Charities targeted by Tories

Depsite the hot air from local Conservatives on Medway charities, voluntary organisations and those people who volunteer the evidence now shows their support is not backed up with financial muscle.

Today, hundreds of charities across the UK had cuts announced. The news is not so good in Medway, where 18 charities face substantive cuts.

These include

• Action for Borstal Community (ABC Project),
• Ashdown Medway Accommodation Trust (AMAT),
• Avante - Step Ahead (Crisis 10),
• Avenues Trust,
• Borden Riding School,
• Casa Support,
• Crime Stoppers, Crossroads,
• Demelza Hospice,
• Home-Start Medway (for children and young people),
• Hope (Kent) Ltd,
• In Touch,
• Kent People's Trust,
• Medway Cyrenians,
• Medway Mediation,
• Orbit Housing Association,
• West Kent Housing,
• Young Lives Foundation.

Sixteen other charities are facing minor cuts totalling £87,116.45.

The worrying thing about the list in Medway, like in other areas where cuts are being made, is that many of the charities affected are those aimed at young people, such as Home-Start Medway, which is based in Gillingham.

It aims to support parents with young children at home and is currently offering support to over 120 families.

The Young Lives Foundation is another of the organisations being hit.

It is a dedicated children's charity providing a range of support services for some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged young people across Kent and Medway.

It tries to give young people a voice in the important decisions that affect their lives, providing long term consistent relationships with adults they can trust, and helping to build self confidence and self esteem.

What these cuts show is that the big society is nothing more than hot air whilst dozens of local charities which support local residents are knee-capped in their pockets by Conservatives, who once again prove they know the cost of everything but the value of nothing.

This is a direct snub to hundreds of local residents who volunteer their services. Today they, and the people they support, felt the cold slap from Cameron and his local MPs; Mark Reckless, Rehman Chisthi and Tracey Crouch