list your big society fails here

Recently the SureStart toddler and baby group got taken over by a charity. For the last two weeks it hasn't been running and there's been no information about it being closed.
This seems like a pretty big 'big society' cock up.
Have there been any others?

Excellent idea for a thread.

The youth work project i used to work for was visited by David Cameron who claimed it was fantastic and he used it as a sound bite for months as his ''vision for the big society'', he wanted everyone to follow our example.

Due to funding cuts by his government, all us Youth Workers were made redundant and the project closed.

That kind of thing, yeah.

Can you name the project that closed?

I'm a big society fail. I still get paid for my job when I could offer to do it for free. Sorry Dave.

East Finchley Advice Service was forced to close in September 2011, following the loss of approx £15,000 in local authority funds.

They were a service delivering advice on benefits, debt, housing, education, etc, using volunteers advisers (~45 iirc) and dealing with 4-5000 enquiries every year.

So a properly local service, that encouraged people to volunteer, and empowered people to sort out every day problems lost for a sum which is hardly noticeable.

Looks like my local library may be closing and run by volunteers - er yeah thanks dave.

also a woman on my teaching course works for the council providing subsidised music lessons and facilities for young people, finding it increasingly impossible tn get any work

Leeds city council stopped all payments to Mencap playschemes that's the only thing my boys ever get to do and all James' socialising totally removed.

Oh yeah council official saying they had things in place as a replacement, I don't think so! Total lie.

Cash crisis could close half of CABx

law gazette article here - http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/cash-crisis-could-close-half-cabs

Backlash on budget pain: Tories hit charities for £1.4billion
Mirror. 25 Mar 2012

Genius! Cuts to the public sector hoping the charities will take up the slack and then taxing donations.

I imagine it'd affect a lot of bequests?

whe the rich want to do something good for once the tories punish them !! as class traitors probably

sorry im drunk

I think the real damage would be if it applies to funding from charitable foundations to other charities.

Here's a 5% percent income tax cut but don't donate it to charity they'd give it to the needy. We don't want that. It only encourages them.

Does it? I hadn't thought of that. Medical research etc

Really, Dave's "big society" shtick is in itself a massive fucking fail, end of.

The big society is a big load of arse. Our local youth centre has had the big society treatment. It's closing.

thats just incredible, 15'000, just enough to pay for Osbore's ski holiday...

Fortunately they come up with something for Easter (for the middle child) but I really do not know what's going on in summer.
Older one's school have had a big cash injection and I really hope that means he can get something as it annoys me he isn't allowed on his own school playscheme (lives too far away) every single other school prioritise their own pupils but not his.

Funding for the learning disabled is being 'reviewed' up here, no doubt they will be first in line for the chop, not exactly a voiciferous minority.

What are they meant to do for six weeks. I can't take the older boy out, at all. If all the mainstream schemes weren't also in problems and I could find a 1:1 there for mid boy might be okay.
What's not okay is expecting him to stay in all day every day for six weeks (and me as well). He will go crazy and I can't blame him.

What a cunt.

Fucking tories

How old are they?

9 and 14 but he'll be 15 by the hols. Keep hoping something will materialise before then, but it's a bit patchy at the best of times.

Is there no Resources for Autism where you are? That's appalling what they've done. =/

Evil
Tory
Bastards

I'm going to have to see, what tends to happen is all the funding or support goes into the more able end like aspergers or higher functioning autism.
Middle kid can function with extra support on a mainstream thing, if there are any, but the older really is more severe and it's harder.
They usually get offered 2-3 days at a place in Addingham, very good but not very many days..

No, not many at all. That sucks.

There *might* be something as long as social services are happy to fund the transport. And if I could use my direct payments to pay it that'd be even better. Thing is, every council has different rules about what you can and can't do with the money. Funding these things is a pisser every year but worth every penny.

Law Centres are going the same way at a worrying rate, and the two largest immigration advice charities - Refugee and Migrant Justice and the Immigration Advisory Service - have also both closed.

At times it looks as if the government are engaged in a deliberate and systematic attempt to destroy the non-profit legal services sector in this country, and even if not they're clearly indifferent to the fact that it is leaving hundreds of highly vulnerable people with little access to legal advice. No amount of cajolery...