Changes to youth provision grants makes future uncertain

Staff outside the Sulgrave Club on Goldhawk Road

April 4, 2023

The manager of the Sulgrave Club on Goldhawk Road is warning that hundreds of children in Shepherd’s Bush and Hammersmith may be without a local youth club due to changes in funding arrangements.

Nick Sazeides says that funding that previously had been going to the club is now being given to a national provider Let Me Play and a petition has been started to urge Hammersmith and Fulham Council to reconsider.

Although the council subsequently said over the weekend that ‘new’ funding would be available for the Sulgrave Club as well as the Brunswick Club in Fulham, it is not clear how and when this support might be available.

The Sulgrave Youth Club was founded in 1926 and originally located in Shepherd's Bush before moving to Goldhawk Road in 1936. The inspiration for providing a Youth club for boys and young men within the local community was Edward De Stein, a founding member of the City of London brokers. Alongside a couple of friends, De Stein purchased a property in Sulgrave Road and founded the ‘Sulgrave Club.’ Since then, it has served as a youth club and today offers a very wide range of clubs and activities to local children including cooking, football, basketball, taekwondo, music production and academic clubs.

The club has served generations of young people in the local area and played an important role during the pandemic. Many of the young people are from families struggling with the rising cost of living and canteen provision at the club enables them to eat a nutritious meal in the company of their friends.

At the moment about 126 attend the club every week and holiday clubs are provided which are invaluable to working families.

A statement with the petition to maintain funding to the club which has been signed by over 150 people says, “The Sulgrave Youth Club was founded in 1926, so will celebrate its centenary in just 3 years time. An unexpected loss of Council support risks the waste of a well respected and attended youth club, that has been a vital resource within Shepherd’s Bush for generations. The 11-19 year olds that attend Sulgrave each week, lack the resources and opportunities to find places to hang out with their friends. Their alternatives are limited and often risky.

“The Sulgrave team is fortunate to include those with expertise and experience of supporting youngsters through their adolescence. Their care is particularly important in playing a role in providing positive role models and mature guidance to the young members of Sulgrave. This petition seeks to enable our community to thrive and grow into responsible adults. We are particularly proud of former club members who are now part of our staff team.”

An additional concern for the clubs is that it will be excluded from getting replacement financial support from charitable trusts in the sector as many will not give grants to organisations that were previously funded by local authorities.

A parallel campaign has been started to save the Brunswick Club in Fulham. Situated in Haldane Road near the Clem Attlee Estate, it is also to have its grant support reduced due to changes in the way youth provision is being supported in the borough.

A petition has been set up by Greg Hands, MP for Chelsea and Fulham, demanding that Hammersmith & Fulham Council restore funding to The Brunswick Club.

Around 100-150 young people attend the sessions at the Brunswick Club for those aged 11-19 each week and over 1,000 are members of what is the largest youth club in the borough.

Staff at the Brunswick Club in Fulham which has also had funding withdrawn

The club was founded in 1949 with donations by British ex-Prisoners of World War II held in Brunswick, Germany. Local families across generations have been members of the club which has the moot “Brunswick 4 Life, Friends Forever”.

Greg Hands said, “I have been either the Councillor or the MP for the brilliant Brunswick Club since 1998 and one of the Club’s trustees since 2003. I know how vital the Club is for providing football, boxing, chess and other activities for generations of young people in Fulham since 1949, when it was opened by the late Prince Philip. The Council’s sudden ending of funding has come as a huge shock to us at the club, and we urge them to think again. I hope that people power - with residents signing the public petition - will get the Council to reconsider.”

Local councillor Cllr Jose Afonso said, “The Brunswick Club and the Sulgrave Club are essential stakeholders in our community. Labour-run LBHF must U-turn on this disastrous policy and financially support our local youth clubs.”

This Saturday, (1 April), the council said that it would be providing new funding for the centres. It remains unclear whether the local clubs will get guaranteed funding or be required to bid for grants in competition with other local organisations working in the same sector.

The MP said, “Despite this announcement, there are still questions which need answering and I will continue to put pressure on the council to establish how long is the funding for, why funding is being replaced with a bidding pot and what the amount of the funding will be.

“Until the Council provides answers to these key questions, my petition goes on, and I am urging constituents to keep circulating it to friends, family and neighbours keep up the pressure on the council.”

A spokesperson for the council said that funds in this sector are delivered by a third party adding, “The Brunswick and The Sulgrave youth clubs are important institutions which are key to achieving Hammersmith & Fulham’s goal of making our borough the best place in the country for young people to grow up in. They have and will continue to play a hugely significant role in supporting young people and their families. We will shortly be announcing a new fund to support our young people and will be inviting all H&F youth organisations – including the Brunswick and the Sulgrave – to apply for these new, extra grants. We look forward to continuing to support them for many more decades to come.”