Petition launched to save vital Highland youth programme from council funding cuts
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A petition has been launched to save a Highland programme which currently supports hundreds of young people in seven secondary schools.
In order to save around £200,000 per year, Highland Council took the decision to axe funding for the MCR Pathways' vital mentoring programme which is designed to help the most disadvantaged pupils.
The acclaimed school mentoring programme launched in the Highlands in November 2021 at Inverness High, Wick High, Inverness Royal Academy, Lochaber High, Dingwall Academy, Alness Academy and Invergordon Academy.
That loss of cash from the council could put the programme co-ordinators – technically employed by the council – out of a job and harm schools and young people relying on the service.
A petition has now been launched by MCR Pathways, which is addressed to Highland Council leader Raymond Bremner.
The petition states: "Dear Councillor Bremner,
"Highland Council’s decision to end its funding for school-based coordinators working on the groundbreaking MCR Pathways pupil mentoring programme is wrong in every way.
"MCR supports the region’s most disadvantaged young people, especially those who the Council is the corporate parent of. As mentors, we have direct experience of the huge value of the programme and the life changing differences it makes.
"Despite their talents and through no fault of their own, the young people had been predestined to fail. But since its inception, MCR Pathways and its coordinators have ensured thousands of vulnerable young people have instead been supported to lead productive and confident lives.
"Removing this support will have a profound impact on their education outcomes, job choices and life chances. And that’s not just for a budget period, it is for a lifetime. The Highlands will eventually pick up all manner of different costs for this failure.
"We all hope that sense will prevail and that corporate parent responsibilities will drive the final decisions. Your young people need and deserves the opportunity to realise their potential and absolutely not be determined by their postcode or circumstances."
