Dramatic moves as theatre funds axed

A ground-breaking theatre project which helps disadvantaged youngsters is determined to fight for funds to survive after a Black Country council withdrew financial backing.

The future of the Leaps & Bounds project, which helps young people into work, education and training, is under threat after Dudley's Tory-controlled council ended its financial commitment to the group. Councillors decided to pull the plug after they were left with a £1 million bill for a show staged by the group in caverns deep under the town.

Leaps & Bounds director Keith Horsfall said: "It was always our intention to progress away from the council and that time has now come," he said.

"This project has completely changed lives and we could not have done it without Dudley Council's involvement.

"We hope to continue this project but changing lives is an expensive business."

Leaps & Bounds, based at Wordsley's Red House Glass Cone, is a registered charitable trust and is now seeking alternative finance.

Past productions include Ballet Hoo!, a project which saw 200 youngsters perform in Romeo and Juliet at Birmingham's Hippodrome, televised by Channel 4.

People who have joined the scheme have gone on to go to university or to get a job which is something they would never have dreamed of doing before," Mr Horsfall said.

"Those who were involved in crime before they came to us have turned their lives around and stayed clean.

"It does cost a lot of money to run these projects, but if you think about how much it would cost to keep a young person in prison for a year – probably £60,000 – it is a small amount."

Councillor Anne Millward, deputy leader of Dudley Council, said that funding had stopped as the project was no longer financially viable and other costs had to take priority.

Councillor Millward said: "In the current economic climate we have had to prioritise and think about where our money is going to be best spent."

Five members of staff are employed by the council to run the Leaps & Bound project, while other workers are funded through organisations such as Black Country Connexions.

The five staff have now been put on a council redeployment list in the hope of finding them other work.