As billions of pounds of Government cuts filter down to local authorities, it is inevitable that what start out as anonymous statistics turn into very real and human consequences.

This week, we report on the fears of those who attend the Beatbox youth club for disabled teenagers in Wantage, which is facing the axe as part of county council cuts to youth centre funding.

At first glance, the closure might not appear to affect many people, but for the 25 or so young people with learning difficulties who attend the club, it gives them an experience which is difficult to get in any other place.

While the most vociferous campaign mounted against cuts so far has been to try to protect the library service across the county, the reduction of funding to youth centres and the concentration of efforts on so-called ‘hubs’ has received far less attention.

But, as we reported earlier this year, one glimmer of hope for the Beatbox club is that King Alfred’s Specialist Sports College in Wantage has vowed to step in and help pay to run the town’s youth club if its funding was cut.

But the school made it clear that it would be looking for outside help to achieve that aim. Now is the time to step forward.