Day Centres
At the end of last year the Tories at DCC announced they would need to close 6 Day Centres, to save money. The users of these Day Centres would be bussed to the next nearest Day Centre, in some cases nearly two hours in a bus. Swanage users were to be bussed to Wareham, and everyone knows how long that journey can take in the summer months ! Attendances had dropped because the criterion for eligibility had been raised and people, even existing users, were being turned away as ‘not sufficiently in need’.
The users, and particularly their carers, mounted a very vigorous campaign pointing out how vital a local Day Centre is to a community, (we could do with one in Corfe Mullen !). In the event the County Council’s settlement from the Government was increased by £4m so we managed to argue that 5 of these Day Centres be saved, for the moment.
The Day Centre in Blandford, which is for learning disabled adults, tragically we failed to save. DCC want to redirect many of the users to other Day Centres and make plans for the remaining ones. The people who use this centre are vulnerable, very anxious about change, and need consistency in their lives, their routines and their friendships. Plans for them should never be made hurriedly. However we LibDems failed even to achieve a few months extension to this plan. DCC do not have plans in place for everyone, they intend to have plans in place by May when the centre will close to users and become an administrative centre. We argued strongly, along with a vocal group of carers, that the plans need to be made and tested, everyone needs to know that they are catered for and are happy and confident with the plans, before the Centre is closed.
have your say
