PARENTS and staff today spoke of their sadness at the folding of an Ipswich after-school club which has closed its doors a decade on from its launch.The Kidz Korner Club, based at the YMCA centre in Wellington Street, has been forced to shut because of a lack of funding and spiralling debts.
PARENTS and staff today spoke of their sadness at the folding of an Ipswich after-school club which has closed its doors a decade on from its launch.
The Kidz Korner Club, based at the YMCA centre in Wellington Street, has been forced to shut because of a lack of funding and spiralling debts.
The impact of the closure will hit a number of parents, many of whom claim they will have to give up work to look after their children.
Yvonne Wright's ten-year-old son Luke has been going to the club for the last two years.
She said: “It's a great shame that it's closing. I'm going to have to leave work earlier to pick my son up now.
“He has a lot of friends at the club and loves going along.”
Adele Allen, whose eight-year-old daughter Amber goes to Kidz Korner, said: “The club has been brilliant so it's a real shame.
“Amber came here the term before she started school and she loves it. She will lose a lot of good friends.”
Parents and children came together for one final time for a party to mark the closure of the club.
While Kidz Korner has been running for the last ten years, it has had no external funding for the last eight.
In recent years, the numbers have dwindled and Mike Fisher, chief executive of the YMCA, said Kidz Korner was running at a loss of £300 per week and was £25,000 in debt.
While parents will be left with the headache of finding alternative arrangements for their children, the axing of the club also means four members of staff are now looking for new jobs.
Fiona Radnor, play work coordinator, said: “It's very sad for us. It's not just the fact that we are losing our jobs, it also means we won't see these children again. We have watched them grow up.
“It will of course have a big impact on the parents. A couple have already had to give up work because of the closure.”
What are your feelings on the closure of Kidz Korner? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send us an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk
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