Closure of the leisure club Låven has engaged young people all over the country. Today, the district committee in the Søndre Nordstrand district decided that the leisure club Låven is one of the leisure clubs that has now been saved. TEARS-FILLED: Sandra fights side by side with leisure club leader Renate Wessel Olsen. Photo: Stina Karin Haugen / news It was strong for the young people Sandra (16) Maria-Isadora and Salma, who have been involved for weeks against the closure of their leisure club at Holmlia in Oslo. – I am so happy now. They have heard us, and I am a little speechless now and very grateful, Sandra cries with joy. – I didn’t think this was going to go well, I’ve had a bad feeling in my stomach all day. But now it worked. They have heard us, says her friend Maria-Isadora. FINALLY: The friends Maria-Isadora (behind) and Sandra after a long day. Photo: Stina Karin Haugen / news Ready for battle There is a crisis atmosphere in several of Oslo’s districts, but worst of all in Søndre Nordstrand. The district director presented a proposal in which the district must save NOK 144 million next year for a number of different reasons. ENGAGED: Sandra (16) reports with her friends about attendance. She will be out in good time. Photo: Stina Karin Haugen / news A few hours earlier, Sandra (16) is standing in her room at her mother’s house getting ready. PREPARED: Sandra gets ready before the meeting. Photo: Stina Karin Haugen / news She fixes her hair, combs her eyelashes and checks her computer to read over articles she and her friends have been working on recently. Soon she will find out if the battle she has fought has been worth it. Whether or not her leisure club should be shut down. PLAY AND LEISURE TIME: Lerdal leisure club Låven on Søndre Nordstrand. Photo: Karwan Noradin Ali / news – I’m going to cry anyway, because it will be so strong. This is a childhood place, which I have been involved with for eleven years, which I have worked hard to prevent from being shut down. Låven helps young people make better choices and a better direction in life, she says. EXCITED: Soon Sandra will find out if her leisure club closes down. Here she is getting ready in her room. Photo: Stina Karin Haugen / news Sandra has been hanging out at the leisure club two days a week for 11 years. Football matches, fits of laughter, birthday songs on her birthday, are memories she cherishes. Half of them are closed She is not the only one in the country who is active in a leisure club. Hundreds of thousands of young people use the leisure club in their local area. But several of them are threatened. In the last ten years, there have been fewer – from 735 clubs in 2010 to 625 leisure clubs in 2020, figures from Statistics Norway show. SMS: There will be more glances down at the mobile phone than usual this evening. Photo: Stina Karin Haugen / news Lately she has been fighting for her club: – I have prioritized this very much. I have taken time off from work. I have been at work, but then I have been working on this after work hours. It has taken all evening. WRITER: Sandra has spent the evenings writing comments and statements. Photo: Stina Karin Haugen / news Dropped out of school One year ago Sandra dropped out of school, she couldn’t take it anymore due to health problems. She was tired, bored and wanted a break. Then Låven became even more important. – I’m social with my friends and that’s a feeling I love. After all, I dropped out of school and worked in a nursery school, and then I don’t spend much time with young people my age, she says. HOME BEST: Sandra (16) envisions a long future at Søndre Nordstrand. Photo: Stina Karin Haugen / news Prevents intoxication She believes that youth crime will increase without leisure clubs. – I feel that if Låven hadn’t been a thing, I might also have been in a corner smoking weed, sort of. That’s why I’m very glad it exists. I see that it affects many young people, and me too. – I feel that if Låven hadn’t been a thing, that I might also have been in a corner smoking weed, sort of. SandraUngdomNRKPhoto: Stina Karin Haugen / NRKPhoto: Stina Karin Haugen / news Mamma Marje agrees: – It’s a sense of security for me to know that she is in the club instead of hanging out and ending up in the wrong environment, she says. MOTHER SUPPORTS: Sandra (16) is supported by her mother Marje. They both hope the leisure club will continue. Photo: Stina Karin Haugen / news A recent study from England shows the following: After club closures between 2010 and 2019 in London, crime among young people increased by 14 per cent. – Cuts in services for children and young people are very bad for the economy. What is saved in the short term can cost far more when more young people are left out, says Marte Emilsen in Ungdom og fritid. Sandra agrees. – You can be yourself there. And it is completely drug-free, so I see that young people can choose completely for themselves whether they want to stand outside smoking weed or whether they want to come in there. And I see that there are young people who would rather make use of it, and choose to be inside Låven and be drug-free, says Sandra. – Låven helps young people make better choices and a better direction in life. SandraUngdomNRKPhoto: Stina Karin Haugen / NRKPhoto: Stina Karin Haugen / news Tears in the eyes During the demonstrations last Thursday, there was a torch train from Låven up to Holmlia. City councilor Eirik Lae Solberg was greeted with boos, among others. CURVED OUT: City council leader Eirik Lae Solberg had a hard time on the podium. – I understand that I will be booed tonight, but I actually entered politics because I want to give children and young people the best opportunities in our city, he said then. Booed out 16-year-old Sandra was one of those who booed. – But what choice do the politicians really have, they have to cut? – I understand that they have to cut, but instead of wasting money on, for example, moving a library (Deichman Mortensrud) from the first to the second floor, they could rather spend money on preserving the clubs. It’s about priorities, says Sandra and adds: – I bet they also have children, so they should think about their future too. Maybe their children live more on the west side than the east side, but this is about all young people, she concludes. TIRED YOUTH: The friends have been fighting for many weeks to keep their leisure club. Photo: Stina Karin Haugen / news Låvefest Back at the district committee in Søndre Nordstrand, Sandra and her friend Maria Isadora state that it was worth waiting for two and a half hours. – It’s great, and it shows that we’ve made an effort, says Sandra. – You are tiny little people, look what you have achieved! I am so relieved and happy, agrees Renate Wessel Olsen. GOOD END: General manager at Låven leisure club Renate Wessel Olsen hugs Sandra and Maria-Isadora. Photo: Stina Karin Haugen / news – It is worth fighting for something that means something to you. Now I can start the birthday night, says Sandra. Her birthday is on Friday. Then there will be a barn party. Published 12/12/2024, at 21.29 Updated 12.12.2024, at 21.40
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