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Abstract

Parents in EC1 fear a surge in crime after finding out a youth centre in the heart of their community is to shut – right in the middle of the summer holidays.

Residents are outraged after being left in the dark about the closure of Toffee Park Youth Club, which will close next Friday.

The decision was taken behind closed doors at an internal council meeting in December.

Residents accused the council of being “sneaky” in their handling of the closure.

Mum Charlotte Newby said: “If we had known about this earlier we would have chained ourselves to the railings.”

Bunhill ward councillor Claudia Webbe said: “Doing this during the school holidays at worst is a disservice to the young people and at best extremely clumsy.”

Parents say the closure will leave teenagers with nowhere to go – leading to more trouble on the streets and gang-related crime.

The adventure playground next door, which is for younger children, will not close.

Many mothers in the area themselves went to the youth centre – which provides cookery classes, arts and crafts and subsidised trips away – and now consider it a safe haven for their own children.

Lisa Bassett, 41, went to the centre in her youth and her 13-year-old daughter now goes there. She said: “They are taking away another vital space for our kids.”

Charlotte Newby said: “Toffee Park is legendary. This community will break down – the parents won’t see each other, the children won’t see each other.”

Other parents spoke with anger about feeling their working-class community is being pushed out of the area, with the City just minutes away.

Nicky Ludgate, a community worker in the area, said: “Nothing positive is going to come out of this.

“EC1 is a good community but I am worried about this – crime will go up.”

Toffee Park users will be moved to Spectrum, formerly the EC1 music project, just around the corner – but the premises are smaller and have no outdoor space, unlike Toffee Park.

However, Spectrum is also set to be demolished to make way for the new Redbrick Estate.

Council papers show Spectrum is eventually to be relocated to another address in Old Street.

Parents only found out about the closure this week but a petition against the decision has already been signed by 200 people in the area.

An Islington Council spokesman said: “All young people attending Toffee Park will be fully supported in transferring their youth club membership across to Spectrum.

“Many of those who use Toffee Park already belong to Spectrum anyway.

“In the long term, we hope to build an even bigger and better youth centre in ‘tech city’ in Old Street, where we would like to offer young people not just facilities to entertain them but the proper support to help them get the jobs they want and deserve.”