Plea's for Gloucestershire Police to save Aston Project
Children who were helped by the Aston Project are pleading for the scheme not to be axed.
Children who have had their lives turned around and put back on track thanks to a police project which faces the axe are calling on chiefs to reconsider “taking Gloucestershire’s best family away”.
The Aston Project, named after the late neighbourhood police constable Lynn Aston who died at the age of 48 in 2011, is a community focused initiative that identifies at-risk young people and links them with resources or activities within their communities.
The much-loved Gloucestershire Constabulary-managed scheme is being scrapped as the force seeks to make budget cuts to plug the £12.3m funding gap they face.
Police chiefs are also cutting 60 staff jobs including 30 to 40 police community support officers (PCSOs).
But there are huge concerns that the move to axe the Aston Project, which provided mentors and benefited many young people in the county, is short-sighted.
Several of those who have benefited from the scheme have spoken out about the move to stop the scheme.
One of those who has been involved with the project for almost two years says it helped with their social anxiety and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
They said the police community support officers “filled their lives with happiness” when they were going through a tough time.
“I was referred to the project by their school after I kept falling out with people and started to not go to lessons,” they said in a letter seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
“Life was a struggle,” they said. “Everyone was grieving the loss of my grandmother and with my mum in hospital. I was scared.
“They helped me through. One of the PCSOs was there when my mum went into emergency surgery.
“She was the one who calmed me down when I thought I was going to lose my mum.
"After being there for nearly two years I’m finally making friends with people in the Aston Project and outside.
“I couldn’t be more grateful to her and everyone else because at Aston we were not just a project.
"We’re a family.
“A family that has each other’s back because we’ve all been through the same things one way or another and we know how to comfort each other.”
They said news the project will be cut has upset many of those involved in it. “I got home and broke down crying,” they said.
“And I hate crying but you guys are destroying such a beautiful project.
"The Aston Project was created to help Gloucestershire’s most vulnerable children and you’re closing that, releasing all these vulnerable children back into society.
“I hope you can rethink what you have done not just to the children in Aston but to everyone who works with us in the Constabulary and the community.
"So please, before you make your absolute final decision, don’t take Gloucestershire’s best family away.”
Another young teenager who has benefited from the scheme says the PCSOs and the Aston Project helped turn their life around. “I was a very vulnerable and easily led young teen at the time and I was stopped in the middle of Cheltenham town centre by three PCSOs,” they said.
“I was under the influence of alcohol.
"I was then co-operative with the PCSOs and taken home in the back of a police car and that was such a scary feeling for a young person, even though what happened was a bad thing, it had such a positive outcome.
“The PCSOs referred me to the Aston Project as they thought it would be a brilliant thing for me and they were right.
"I have changed and grown into the young person I am today, all because of Aston.
“The Aston Project has given me opportunities of life I would never have thought of having.
"I am forever grateful for what I have gotten out of the project.
"You’re not only taking Aston Project from the children on the project but you are affecting a whole community.
“Please understand that you are taking away a family and for some, Aston Project could be a child safe place where they can talk to their mentor, express their feelings.
"I know it feels like that for me.”
They said most of the children in the Aston Project come from different backgrounds and they would have otherwise missed out on the opportunities it brings. The Aston Project gives credits for the activities we do for the community.
They said the credits they earn for the time and effor they put in allows them to save up for a fun time out at Thorpe Park or Drayton Manor Resort.
They said a lot of children benefit from the project as it pushes them out of their comfort zones and changes their way of thinking.
This is something that they may never have been able to do without the project, they believe.
“Please listen to me and take accountability on how your decision is going to change a whole range of people’s lives,” they continued.
“As a teenager, especially in this generation, life is different, full of social media and phones.
“You don’t see many teenagers out and about and if you do, they are probably making the wrong decisions and trouble for themselves and society.
“The Aston Project changes that.
"It gets teens out and helps us make the right decisions.
"That is what we need. Please, it’s not just the children, it’s the PCSOs and the other mentors’ lives you’re changing.
“Please, you’re stopping something really important and special.
"We are depending on you to listen to everyone who is a part of the Aston Project to help us to help you to make a positive difference.”
Gloucestershire Constabulary chiefs say they are having to take decisive action to improve their core police services while making £12.3m in savings over the next year.
They say they can no longer fund activities such as the Aston Project due to budget pressures.
“We recognise the value of working with and supporting young people and have Youth Engagement Officers who will ensure we maintain our relationships with schools and other partners that support children and teenagers,” a spokesperson previously said.
“Senior officers have met with Eamon Aston to explain the situation regarding the Aston Project and to put on record our thanks for his and his late wife Lynn’s dedication to working with young people over the years.
“We need to make £12.3m of savings by the end of the financial year and while decisions such as these are extremely difficult to make, they are absolutely necessary if we’re to deliver the improvements to our services we know we need to make.”
The constabulary has been approached for further comment.