A youth service which provides vital support and advice to more than 900 Crowborough young people each year faces an uncertain future.
Clued-Up, a charity which shares a building with the now closed Lloyds Bank, has appealed to East Sussex County Council (ESCC) to safeguard its future.
Its immediate problem is its premises. The landlord of the building – the old Regent Cinema – is happy for the charity to stay but is asking for an annual rent increase of approx. £3,000 – a rise of almost 30 per cent. This is money it doesn’t have.
Crowborough Town Council funds 50 per cent of the charity’s budget but the longer term issue it also faces is the funding it receives from Wealden District Council. This is set to end in 2028 with the district council set to be abolished and replaced with a single unitary authority for the whole of East Sussex.
In a Crowborough News story last month about the lack of ESCC youth services in Crowborough compared to Heathfield, Uckfield and on the coast, the county council said: “We remain committed to working flexibly and creatively to support families in Crowborough…” and it was “working closely” with Clued-Up.
It provides no funding for Clued-up however, and Crowborough News has asked, therefore, what “working closely” means.
Rosy, the senior youth adviser and manager of the service said: “Clued Up supports so many young people in the town on a wide range of issues and has done for 20 years. It used to be that they didn’t know where to get information or help – now with so much online our role is often to help them navigate through all the information to get the support they need.”
Clued-Up is open weekday afternoons and provides a wide range of advice and support for young people on subjects such as education, employment, mental health, money, and relationships. The drop-in centre provides free and confidential advice and emotional support to more than 900 young people from Crowborough and the surrounding area every year.
It offers 1-2-1 appointments for confidential advice or acts as a safe space for children and young adults to spend time after school or in between activities to do homework, read, or just meet with friends.
Rosy added: “So many young people come here for confidential support and advice, or to talk about things they don’t want to talk about with their school or their parents. If it doesn’t continue they won’t have anything at all unless they can get to Uckfield or Heathfield. That’s not acceptable.”
The charity’s trustee, Richard Hallett, said he had turned to East Sussex County Council for help with funding to help ensure the future of the service but was still waiting for a response.
Concerns about the service’s future have also been raised by Sussex Weald MP, Nus Ghani, who visited the centre. Ms Ghani said: “Clued-Up is a fantastic local asset, run by a dedicated team of youth workers offering free, confidential and non-judgemental advice and support to young adults in the area. The Crowborough drop-in centre is a great resource and can be used as a safe space to spend time without a prior appointment.”
We asked ESCC if it would intervene to provide the funding to ensure Clued-Up’s future (especially given its lack of investment in the town compared to others). We also asked what “working closely with Clued-up meant”, and what would ESCC provide for young people in Crowborough if Clued-up had to close.
A spokesperson said: “Although it doesn’t fund Clued-Up directly, the county council’s youth service has worked closely with the charity for many years offering practical and strategic support to help it operate and develop. We are aware of the challenges the charity faces as a result of reductions in external funding.
“With the county council’s own significant financial challenges, we are limited in the additional support we can provide but remain committed to supporting the charity within our current capacity. This includes offering professional advice and guidance to the Clued-Up management committee, continuing the secondment arrangement for a sessional youth worker, partnership delivery of a second youth work session supported by a county council youth worker, and identifying and assisting with external funding opportunities.
“We are committed to supporting young people across the county, with a local youth offer provided by both ESCC Youth Service and CVSE partners. Our priority is to ensure that young people in the area have access to appropriate support within the council’s limited budget and by working in partnership with others.”