A SCHEME in Grimethorpe offering support and counselling to schoolchildren has been closed by a national charity.
The Barnsley Schools Team, which is run by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and based at the Acorn Centre on High Street, will close by the end of March after a national review.
One employee, who did not wish to be named, said: "I have only been there 16 months and don't qualify for any redundancy money but some people have been there eight and nine years. It's the only job in the world that has ever given me job satisfaction. I feel like I'm helping someone but that has been taken away."
Seventeen full and part time members of staff will lose their jobs and five workers who were not on NSPCC contracts will be affected.
Divisional director of NSPCC north, Gordon Ratcliffe, said: "While it is regrettable this decision has had to be made, there is a need to take such action to ensure the long term viability of services provided by the NSPCC across the UK."
