Barnfield staff furious over cash spent on Luton Town Football Club sponsorship

MEMBERS of staff at a college have hit out against the decision to sponsor Luton Town FC’s new kit at the same time as a restructure which could see many of them lose their jobs.

Several allegations have been set out in a letter signed by a number of current and former staff at Barnfield College, in light of the sponsorship – including one that staff are being asked to train their own replacements.

Barnfield is currently undergoing a restructure, which will include job losses.

The letter says: ‘The people of Luton and the staff at Barnfield are appalled at the sponsorship deal with LTFC. No-one has ever heard of an educational establishment sponsoring a football team, let alone a failing one.

‘And members of staff are sick with worry and stress. They have families to care for and mortgages to pay but still come to work smiling and helping people who walk through the door but are shown no loyalty.’

Other allegations include the replacement of experienced staff, who were made redundant, with either inexperienced or underqualified staff.

The college is currently going through a restructure following an Ofsted report in January, deeming it inadequate.

A spokeswoman for Barnfield College said: “The college is developing a quality focused senior leadership team with a high level skill set to achieve the ambitions for Luton’s students.

“Interim senior staff have a key role to lead the quality and standards the college aspires to in areas where there are gaps in the existing structure. They are responsible for shaping the process to springboard the college out of the grade four status and deliver curriculum and study programmes to exceed local expectations.

“Our strategy is to have responsible financial stability in-line with national 24 per cent cuts from central government funding. Department handovers are always part of a re-structure and the value is not to be undermined. Job losses are a consequence of any restructure.”

Barnfield College has previously defended its sponsorship of Luton Town by saying it came out of the marketing budget.