YOUNGSTERS from across West Devon took over Okehampton's Room 13 youth centre last week, to make a stand against the county council's proposed cuts to youth services.

Twenty four young people slept over at the centre on Friday night, and many more visited the centre during the evening to 'Occupy Room 13'. Their actions were a protest in response to Devon County Council's plans to cut the youth services budget by almost £1-million as part of its overall budget cut of £110-million by 2017, threatening the future of Devon's 34 youth centres.

A new model for the youth service is currently under consultation. It would see the council's youth service move from being an open access, universal facility to become a service providing targeted support for young people most in need.

Courtney Lobb from Okehampton is a senior member of Room 13, and is currently on work placement at the centre. She said that the young people at the centre organised the protest to get their voices heard when they felt ignored.

She said: 'The young people are angry, and very upset by these plans.

'What makes it worse is they are not even getting a voice. Devon County Council are saying they want to get rid of these centres, and made no effort to talk to the young people face to face. That is what they want.

'Okehampton's Room 13 has three sessions a week. It could drop to one a week, or three a fortnight, or some other number. They have not been given a chance to speak, so they organised this protest.'

The event attracted youngsters from across West Devon, including from Okehampton, North Tawton, and Tavistock. Six youngsters made the 32- mile round trip from Tavistock to support the event.

'The support from young people from Tavistock, North Tawton and other places is really important,' said Courtney.

'It shows that it is not just young people in Okehampton who will be hit hard by this proposal. It shows that these young people were willing to give up their time, their weekend activities on the Saturday morning, and make the effort to travel to have their voices heard.'

Courtney said that the flexibility of the centres being open to anyone was the key to their success, and crucial to helping young people who may otherwise not get the help they need.

She said: 'If Room 13 was to go it would be a massive loss.

'We are like a big dysfunctional family here. We all turn up to support each other and help with any issues, and people get to talk to a youth worker when they need it most.

'The county council has said they will target those who need it. But the proposal means young people would have no-one to talk to after 5pm, when most of the things they need to talk about happen between 5pm and 9am the next day. That is a big issue. Lots of young people who use these centres have had problems with drugs or self harm, and through the support of the centres, have stopped that. If the centres close they could start those things up again.'

A meeting for West Devon residents will be held in Tavistock Town Hall on Wednesday, April 16 from 7.15pm to 9.15pm. Youngsters who took part in the Occupy Room 13 protest are planning to attend to ask questions and share their opinions on the consultation.

A spokesperson for Devon County Council told the Times:?'We are in consultation until April 27 and no decisions have been made. We are continuing to invite people to come forward with fresh ideas for services they could provide, possibly using our premises, for which some limited support from the county council may be available.'