I WAS one of the students affected by the closure of this council funded course at Urban Therapy, and want to share the impact this has had on me from a personal level.

Considering we were advised when the course was terminated by Urban Therapy this was down to BRAG hitting them with an unexpected bill… It transpires this has not been the case, indeed the issues seem to run a lot deeper… It was both Rachel Crozier (Urban Therapy) and a council lawyer (Laura Lamb) who delivered this news, and it is now apparent they have blatantly and knowingly lied to us all.

I sent an email to Councillor Mark Hood, and Kevin Sayer from the council highlighting my personal story, which shows the reasons I am bitter about both the ending of the course with no warning, but also to the fact we had, as a group invested much time, effort and emotion into this course only to be let down by Urban, and then further insulted by what appears to be a cover up, and a passing of blame onto others…

My colleagues on the course (some of whom were also physically paying for their learning) away from a funding source, have also expressed their concern. These payments were taken and used with Urban being aware of the financial predicament they were in… I also feel it pertinent to add right up until the final week when the devastating news was delivered we had been continually led to believe the course was safe, and would be completed.

DOUGIE OVENSTONE.