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A group of volunteers who educate young people about drug misuse are to launch a legal challenge against the Welsh assembly's decision to scrap funding for their project,writes Derren Hayes.

The 40 volunteers from Youthlink Wales plan a judicial review against the assembly for withdrawing the scheme's £100,000 section 64 grant, which is awarded to voluntary groups to support health projects. Youthlink Wales says it will be forced to close by the end of the year unless the assembly reverses its decision.


The organisation trains young people to educate their peers, particularly hard-to-reach children, such as those excluded from schools or already misusing drugs, about the dangers of drugs.

Andrew Phillips, Youthlink's head of strategy, said: "Peers are the most effective way of reaching these children. Some have dabbled with drugs and have other life problems. If we have to walk away then there will be no one doing that work with them, which will have longer term costs."

Youthlink was one of the major beneficiaries of the assembly's £400,000 Section 64 grant, which was scrapped earlier this year as it shifted emphasis from prevention to treatment services.

A small sum - £30,000 in Youthlink's case - has been provided to enable residential units to continue operating until 2008.

Roger Duncan, director of the Swansea Drugs Project, said the money was also vital for organisations offering services on a national and regional basis because most of the funding streams in the sector were allocated according to local needs.


The Swansea project was forced to end its hepatitis C service, which the grant funded.

"It's been a useful source of funding for things that don't fit in elsewhere," Duncan said. "It funded some very innovative projects and it is a very short-term decision."

A Welsh assembly spokesperson said Youthlink had been told about the withdrawal of the grant in December 2004, and that section 64 funding had ended because of changes in the way substance misuse services were delivered.

"The decision was taken to simplify the way we fund substance misuse projects by reducing the number of funding streams available to the voluntary sector," the spokesperson said. "We now allocate funding through community safety partnerships so that they can tackle substance misuse at local level and according to local need."