Most vulnerable will lose out in cutbacks

Editorial Department • Published 15 Jul 2010 16:00 0 Comments

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Dozens of families throughout Fermanagh will be devastated and say the future of their young people will be daunting once the Positive Futures community based support scheme for families closes for good this September.

Positive Futures, the charity which runs the service at Lisnaskea, will have to stop the service because of the Western Health Trust's decision to stop funding the project.

It is only currently operating because of fundraising efforts by families.

Around 44 families in the county will be affected but they intend lobbying to try and rescue the service.

It is only those families who have children or young people with learning disabilities who fully realise the difficulties they endure to try and have a reasonably normal life.

A great feature of the Positive Futures project is how the service focuses on the abilities of the young people, supporting them individually and involving them in community life and recognising that the entire family needs support.

The achievements of many of these young people availing of the service are inspiring to us all.

We all know that cutbacks are necessary in a bid to curb public expenditure, but when you have this type of service suffering, surely more consideration needs to be given to where the cuts are made.

We have seen in the past where the most vulnerable in our society have often suffered most. This does not appear to be just another project paying lip service. It does change these young people's lives and everyone from families and public representatives to health officials must engage to avoid letting these people down when they need the support the most.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 15 Jul 10

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