CIRCUS PUTS BRAVE FACE ON 'CLOSURE'

1 August 2005

A High-flying Swansea circus group fears it will be made homeless if plans to close Dylan Thomas School are approved Circus Eruption, based at the Cockett school, is an award-winning community group which holds 30 skills workshops a year for young people with special needs.

But if Swansea Council's plans to axe their home are rubber-stamped, group leaders claim they will be left with nowhere to go.

Project co-ordinator Ben Hyde said: "The school offers us the access and facilities we need and there is nowhere else near here like it."Dylan Thomas is a great school which does fantastic things for young people in the area.

He added: "It would be a real shame if it closed."And that is leaving aside the fact it is key to our activities.

"Finding a venue in Swansea that is accessible and safe for the children we teach is a real concern."We are worried we are going to be made homeless.

"Circus Eruption teaches skills such as plate-spinning, juggling and stilt-walking to young people and has been operating in Swansea since 1991.

It relies on the support of 20 volunteers and meets every Monday during term time.

"More than 50 children attend its classes at the community school every year.Under Swansea Council's big schools shake-up, Dylan Thomas School is set to be replaced by a revamped Bishop Gore Comprehensive in Sketty.

Children from the school will be moved to the new site.But so far no details have been released about what will happen to Dylan Thomas's special needs facilities.

"We have got the funding we need to keep us going and do the things we do but it looks like we will have nowhere to do it," said Mr Hyde.

"At this school there are other community groups which are also looking for a place to go."And in total, I think there are more than 1,000 people who use the facilities here.

"Dylan Thomas School is the base of the whole community and has some of the best facilities in Swansea, it would be awful to see it go."

A Swansea Council spokesman said today: "The consultation on the future of Dylan Thomas School is being evaluated and a report will be presented to Cabinet in August.

"No decision has been made yet. Any issues arising from any school closure will be considered as part of the school reorganisation process."