Boy's petition calls for more activities for peers

A teenager has called on his local council to provide more free entertainment for young people in his home town.

Thirteen-year-old Joshua lives in Stratford-upon-Avon and says that unless young people are interested in going on walks, hanging around fast food restaurants or spending money at shopping centres, there is little to keep a teenager entertained.

He has accused Stratford-upon-Avon Town Council of caring more about tourists than locals in terms of providing things to do, and has organised a petition in a bid to force change.

The council said the teenager would be welcome to raise his ideas with elected members during meetings' public participation periods.

More than 400 people have signed the petition so far but Joshua is hoping it reaches 1,000 signatures, the threshold for a cause to be the subject of formal council debate.

The petition comes as councils across England are finalising budgets for the coming financial year, with councillors deciding on what the spending priorities for each area should be.

Joshua thinks that in Stratford-upon-Avon, one of the priorities should be expanding the existing youth club, the Stratford Youth Collective.

It is only open on a Wednesday for his age group and accommodates about 50 people at any one time.

"We ideally need more stuff we can access, all week round," he said.

Previous feedback has suggested a bowling alley and another cinema would be welcome, although his mum has reminded him that cost has to be a consideration.

"I don't drive, so that doesn't help, so we're kind of limited [to] Stratford," she said. Going further afield, she added, may involve "having to get a train, which obviously [is] another expense on top of finding an activity and having to pay for that".

"So it is quite frustrating. They do need more in Stratford that's more affordable for families."

Joshua said: "I'm planning to meet with Stratford Council to talk about the issue and hopefully we might be able to meet in the middle somewhere and come to some sort of conclusion, and hopefully they will allow us to have something like [a larger youth club on a more regular basis]."

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