BARNSLEY Council will continue to pay for recurring memberships at the Base71 youth zone after it was revealed it would take ‘years’ to meet its 30,000-member target - but bosses say it’s still one of the fastest growing sites in the country.
In August last year, it was revealed that the council would set aside £150,000 in order to pay the £5 annual membership fee for youngsters wishing to attend Base 71.
The initiative is in line with the council’s key priorities as part of its wider ‘Great Childhoods Ambition’ programme.
It aims to ensure that no child or young person is left behind by providing access to enrichment experiences and opportunities to learn new skills alongside their peers.
The youth zone has been a huge success and features a climbing wall, sports hall, arts and crafts room, dance studio, music room, recording studio and a gymnasium, alongside catering facilities offering a healthy meal for just £1.
Operating as an independent charity run by qualified youth workers and volunteers seven days a week, Base 71 is the 17th youth zone developed by national charity OnSide.
The building was part-funded by Barnsley Council, with online retailer ASOS whose warehouse is based in the town contributing £1.2m towards construction costs.
The £150,000 was originally meant for one-year memberships but it has been now confirmed that the money can be used for recurring memberships.
A report said: “To enable the Base 71 membership funding previously agreed by cabinet to be used to fund both new memberships and renewals for Barnsley children and young people, up to the agreed value of £150,000.
“The introduction of recurring memberships would not take effect until mid September.
“The rate of new memberships has slowed significantly.
“At the current trajectory, reaching the target of 30,000 new memberships could take a number of years.
“At present, approximately 7,000 memberships are in place.
“There is also a risk that maintaining the current model could unintentionally disadvantage those who rely most on the scheme.”
The report added that other options were considered but were not deemed acceptable.
“Retaining the existing agreement with no changes was considered but rejected due to a slowdown in new memberships as achieving the target of 30,000 new memberships would take an unacceptably long period,” the report added.
“Maintaining the existing agreement presents a risk that those members who reply most on the scheme may be unable to renew their membership without continued support, undermining the scheme’s equity objectives.”
Mandy Carlson, Base 71’s CEO, told the Chronicle: “The £150,000 funding was allocated to allow all children and young people aged 8 to 18 living in Barnsley, around 30,000 in total, to access a free first-year Base71 Youth Zone membership, and it was anticipated that not all eligible children would take up the offer in the first year.
“Any funding not already used for new memberships will now be used to support recurring memberships for those already signed up. It will also fund any additional new members from Barnsley who wish to join.
“With more than 7,600 members already, Base71 Youth Zone has seen one of the fastest growing membership numbers in the country, and they continue to grow.”
