IN SPRING this year I was very pleased when the Rose Hill community was awarded about £1,000 to provide extra opening hours at what was then known as Rose Hill Youth Club over the Christmas period.

This was a result of collaboration between the then manager of the youth club and myself as (then) chairman of Rose Hill Tenants’ and Residents’ Association, resulting in a grant from a well-known charity in recognition of the need to provide amenities for the young people of Rose Hill, an area of Oxford classed as a socially deprived area.

The county council’s youth service was then restructured and renamed as the early intervention service, with new staff providing front-line services.

Despite this I received assurances in the autumn that the money would still be put to use, so imagine my horror when only a few days ago I was told by the present manager of the Rose Hill facility that no extra hours would be provided over Christmas, indeed was told: ‘you will have to send the money back’ when I explained it was specifically to provide extra hours at this time.

So much for empowerment of local communities – so much for the Big Society. This is a huge snub to the young people of Rose Hill.

I have contacted the donors with the aim of getting an agreement to spend the money on future extra activities for Rose Hill youth.

I shall do all I can to achieve this, with or without the cooperation of the county council.

Peter Wilkinson, prospective Liberal Democrat candidate for Rose Hill and Iffley ward, Thames View Road, Rose Hill, Oxford