Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fears for Cullen Youth Cafe amid council costs review

Cullen Town Hall.
Cullen Town Hall.

A youth group is fearing for its future as budget-conscious Moray Council reviews hall charges.

The local authority is to investigate fees at many of the facilities it rents out to community clubs as it tries to shave millions of pounds from its budget over the next two years.

The Cullen Youth Cafe group, which rents out a room at Cullen Town Hall every Thursday, is concerned that if a price-hike is approved it could close them down.

Group leader Tam McLellan said the club offers a safe haven for vulnerable youngsters aged between 10 and 18, helping them socialise and grow in confidence.

“Most of the kids are from low-income families, and some parents are sending two or three children each week,” he added.

“We charge £1 per child right now and average about 30 at every session.

“But as soon as we found out about the increase, only 11 parents came back and said they were able to pay £2 per child.

“We can’t survive if Moray Council increases our charges, it’s ridiculous this is being considered.”

During a meeting of the council’s policy and resources committee this week, officers suggested the group should pay an increased amount for use of the venue.

Head of Lifelong Learning, Culture and Sport, Graham Jarvis, said such measures were necessary at a time when budgets were being increasingly squeezed.

He said: “If we didn’t have a budget issue I would like to see everybody using every facility for free, but that’s a utopia and not realistic.”

Fochabers Lhanbryde member Douglas Ross questioned the wisdom of forcing them from the building unless there was a similar community group willing to take its place and pay higher rates.

Mr Ross described the proposal as akin to “cutting off our nose to spite our face”.

Last night Cullen councillor Ron Shepherd said it would be a “travesty” if the group was forced to abandon its activities.

Councillors agreed to defer a decision until they have a “deeper look” at bookings charges and hall use throughout the region.