Schoolgirl’s fight to keep ‘Winch’ open - Winchester Club facing council axe

Published: 10 February 2011
by JOSIE HINTON

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl has written a heartfelt letter pleading for the after-school club she attends to be spared from widespread cuts.

Asha Solanki has been going to the Winchester Project in Swiss Cottage since she was six. She told the New Journal she was inspired to write to councillors after staff at the club explained that it could soon be forced to close.

“The Winch”, as it is known, provides an after-school and holiday club for children aged between four and 12. But with up to 80 per cent of Camden’s play provision facing cuts, most services of this kind could be lost.

In her letter to Camden Council, Asha, who attends Maria Fidelis Convent School, wrote: “I don’t think you understand how much the Winch matters to us kids. If it goes we will have not a lot to do and us young youths will just hang out on the street.

“The Winch are like family and my mum does not know what she would do without it.”

Asha’s mum, Shalina, who also has an eight-year-old son, said she wouldn’t have coped without the Swiss Cottage facility.

“There is no way I would have got through the last year without the Winch,” said Ms Solanki. “I’ve had some difficulties, but with their support I’ve been able to move house and I’m even starting my own business.

“If it closes I worry about my son. When he hits his teenage years and I have no option but to let him out on to the street with his friends, how can I make sure the people around him share my values.”

Kim Mabbut, play development officer at the project, said: “The service allows parents to work or we have a number of parents in education, who are trying to improve their lives. Many will be forced to be unemployed to look after their children.”

A string of after-school play services face closure including the Plot 10 centre in Somers Town, Caversham in Kentish Town and Fairfield  in  Camden Town.

Following a consultation, a decision on the centre’s project is expected on February 28.

Heather Johnson, the council’s cabinet member for schools, children and families, has previously told the New Journal the Town Hall has no choice but to focus services on the most vulnerable children following unprecedented cuts from central government.