YOUNGSTERS from across West Devon are taking over Okehampton's Room 13 youth centre tomorrow evening (Friday), to make a stand against the county council's proposed financial cuts to youth services.

Dubbed 'Occupy Room 13', youngsters from Okehampton, North Tawton, Horrabridge, Tavistock and other areas will gather in Room 13 from 9pm to 11pm in protest, after which the centre will be on lockdown with a number of the young people having a sleep-in until the following morning.

The protest comes 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 the 34 youth centres in the county.

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

It would mean the county would no longer need to manage or run any of the current youth centres.

As part of the consultation, the county council is inviting proposals for alternative models of support and opportunities for local community groups, charities and private sector providers to develop activities and support young people in the area.

Courtney Lobb from Okehampton, who is a senior member of Room 13 and is currently on a work placement at the youth centre, said a lot of young people in the area were angry and upset about the proposals.

She said: 'The young people wanted to do something to protest to try to stop this from happening.

'They wanted to make a stand and have a sleep in.'

Courtney said the young people had already launched a petition and were aiming to collect 9,000 signatures — two weeks ago they had already reached 8,300.

Courtney said it was hoped people from the area would visit Room 13 tomorrow and talk to the young people to realise how important the service is and sign the petition in order to get the signatures they need.

She said it was hoped if they could get the petition to 9,000 signatures, Devon County Council would revisit the situation.

Courtney said. 'We are trying to get the public interested because we want everyone to go to the public consultation about it on April 16.

'The young people are upset about this, particularly in Okehampton and North Tawton because there is nowhere else for young people to go.

'We are quite angry and want to do something about it. People go to the youth groups to see their friends, for support and advice and it could all be taken away from them, which I don't think is fair.

'One of the proposals is to have private buyers or voluntary organisations come in to run the youth centres, but many of the young people have been coming to Room 13 for years and have a strong bond with the youth workers — they can talk to them about anything.'

Courtney said her worry if volunteers took over Room 13 was that they would be complete strangers and the young people would not feel confident to confide in them.

West Devon Borough Councillor for Okehampton Christine Marsh, said: 'I am very supportive of Room 13 and what is being provided there. It has a unique set-up in that it offers a diverse range of facilities, including supporting living skills in later life which some of the young people don't get at home.

'It offers a wide range of information and support on contraception, drugs, alcohol and many other things. But I do recognise that a different mechanism is needed for providing support — we do have to change and move on.'

Cllr Marsh said she would be supporting the young people during their protest tomorrow.

A spokesman for Devon County Council said: 'We are currently consulting with staff and communities over proposals to target our professional youth service work on helping the most vulnerable young people in our communities as a key part of our multi-agency early help strategy.

'This would also mean the withdrawal from running or managing local youth centres.

'Many independent and voluntary groups already provide excellent youth services throughout Devon and, as part of the consultation process, we are inviting 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.

'Consultation on the proposals does not end until the end of April and a final decision is not expected until May.'

A meeting for West Devon residents will be held in Tavistock on Wednesday, April 16 in Tavistock Town Hall from 7.15pm to 9.15pm.