Charity helping vulnerable people in Northamptonshire told it cannot take on any more clients
Last month, the council revealed its intention to axe its “supporting services” contract, currently provided by the charity Service Six and partners Northampton Women’s Aid (NWA), Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs (NAYC) and Family Action.
The move will bring about the end of projects tackling anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse, as well family therapy sessions and counselling, by March 31.
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Hide AdLast week Service Six issued a desperate plea to reach a compromise with the county council.
But on Friday those pleas looked to have fallen on deaf ears as the charity was told it could no longer accept new cases as direct referrals from schools, health professionals and other “cross sector county partners”.
Chief executive Jane Deamer said: “The move to prevent any further referrals is of course a desperately worrying one because we already have a waiting list of more than 170, of which many are under 18, and I fear for them and those inevitable others who would have turned to us for help in the future.
“For now, we are working hard on maintaining our consistently high level of service for our current clients and again want to reassure them that we are doing our upmost to minimise the impact of these cuts.”
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Hide AdShe added that the charity is looking at alternative sources of funding in order to continue in Northamptonshire.”
The contract with Service Six was worth more than £10 million when it was agreed back in 2014 and was supposed to run until 2018.
The charity has been carrying out work in Northamptonshire since the 1970s and is currently providing services to 615 people in the county.