Young Scots have paid a disproportionate price when it comes to the impact of Covid lockdowns and the cost-of-living crisis that followed.
Thousands of lives were put on hold at a key time in their development. School closures disrupted their learning and rampant inflation has forced them to reassess their futures.
Now council cutbacks are hitting our kids as well. The YMCA in Bellshill is just one example of the kind of much-loved local institution that has seen its public funding slashed.
Youth workers fear for the future of its Early and Effective Intervention Service, which helps vulnerable youngsters in the community. And they’ve warned that kids could be left roaming the streets as a result.
The fear is some vulnerable youngsters could find themselves caught up in violence as a result of peer pressure.
That’s why the Record is demanding more support across the country for youth services through the Our Kids Our Future campaign.
The Bellshill YMCA will be given just 13 weeks’ notice until the funds are stopped. Three youth workers will be made redundant in the process.
Years of patient, community-led work that has helped dozens of people could be undone at the stroke of a pen. Numerous other local youth clubs across the country face a similarly uncertain future.
It’s not fair that councillors try to balance their budgets on the backs of youth services. Kids can’t vote and their pleas to elected representatives are too easily ignored.
It’s unacceptable that services such as this can be allowed to close. North Lanarkshire Council should do all it can to help the YMCA in Bellshill.
Braveheart Colin is an inspiration
Colin Hendry was a warrior on the football pitch. An iconic leader of men for club and country, he was adored by fans everywhere he played.
With his distinctive shock of blond hair, he won headers and crunched into tackles like few before him or since. But it was after he hung up his boots that Hendry had his hardest times.
The former Scotland skipper today speaks openly about the difficulties he faced with drink, gambling and the tragedy of losing his wife. He is not the first player to open his heart in the pages of the Record about dealing with the stresses of life after football.
But a legend like the man known as Braveheart telling his own story will help many, in all walks of life, who are
struggling with their mental health. Hendry is an inspiration on and off the pitch.
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