Residents petition Councillors

Burngreave residents went to the meeting of the Full Council at Sheffield Town Hall on Wednesday 4th April to tell councillors they valued staff at Verdon Recreation Centre and Pitsmoor Adventure Playground.

Staff at both centres – and Highfields Adventure Playground in Sharrow – face losing their jobs and don’t know what the future holds. Activity Sheffield – the part of the Council responsible – wants to change the staffing structure to create higher paid posts. This will mean fewer posts for the experienced staff who are working there now.

Verdon Recreation Centre

Parents and Friends of Pye Bank School started a petition after being concerned at the proposed staffing changes. 510 parents, young people and centre users had signed the petition. Zabeda Hussain, extended services co-ordinator at the school, addressed the gathered councillors to explain Verdon Recreation Centre is an important venue for communities in Burngreave and that Aislinn Adams, the development worker, makes the centre accessible to users.

She pointed out it takes years to build up trust with young people in the area. Zabeda called on councillors to confirm if there would be changes to jobs.

Pitsmoor Adventure Playground

Lisa Swift spoke on behalf of 149 young people who had signed a petition in support of the excellent service they received at Pitsmoor Adventure Playground.

Lisa told councillors that the wording of the petition was drawn up by 10- and 11-year-olds (Javien Allen, Millie Higgins, Skye Dawson-Hydes and Chanel Dawson). They felt it was not fair that the staff were to be replaced with other staff. In her speech, she agreed with Zabeda in saying it was “incredibly important staff are able to develop long-term relationships” with the young people. On behalf of the petitioners, she asked the councillors to explain why staff were being replaced and why they thought it was fair.

Asafa Hussain and Saima Hussain asked questions from the public gallery to ask why staff were being replaced and why the community had not been consulted.

The Council's response

Councillor Helen Mirfin-Boukouris is the Cabinet member for Business, Growth and Jobs and she responded to the petitions. She stated, “we know how important the centres are to the children, which is why they weren’t cut in the Council’s budget.”

She promised she would arrange to meet with the petitioners to discuss it further and would ask the ward councillors to be present. Whilst she was clear she could not comment in a public meeting on individual employees’ jobs, she said, “my job is to make sure the service is provided to the community and the children.”