600 join Mencaps petition against council cuts
Parent speaks out over devastation service closures in West Berkshire would cause
THE campaign against the proposed cuts to adult and children's services has moved up a gear with more than 600 people joining an online petition.
West Berkshire Council is proposing a series of cuts in provision for children, which will see overall funding reduced by £50,000.
Service providers such as West Berkshire Mencap, Dingley Family and Specialist Early Years Centre, based at Newbury Racecourse, and A2Dominion, which provides refuge and services to families affected by domestic abuse, will all be affected.
The council is also planning cuts to adult services, including a reduction of £85,000 for the voluntary and community sectors and scrapping free hot meals for the district's most vulnerable residents to save £92,000.
West Berkshire Mencap, whose children's budget is set to be almost halved, from £53,721.60 to £23,000, started the online petition against the cuts and so far more than 600 people have signed it.
The chief executive of West Berkshire Mencap, Leila Ferguson, said: “The response to the petition has been absolutely phenomenal. It just shows how many people care. Parents say they won't be able to cope without us.
“Children come here and grow with us until adulthood. Many of them then come back as volunteers. That's the beauty of this organisation; we know all of our clients extremely well.
“I want to rebuild our relationship with the local authority. We used to have a good relationship but that seems to have gone.”
Overall, West Berkshire Council says it has funded West Berkshire Mencap's children and adult services £416,231.40 in 2011-12 which will be reduced by £64, 914.60 in 2012-13. However, these figures are disputed by Mencap, who say it only received £359,000 from the council this year.
Mrs Ferguson also said that she had a very positive meeting with Newbury MP Richard Benyon, a patron of Mencap, to discuss the cuts.
One who signed, Thatcham mother Sally Robinson, said that her daughter, Katharine, who has Downs syndrome, would be devastated if services were cut at West Berkshire Mencap, which offers care for children and adults with disabilities.
She said: “The only regular break I have for Katharine is three hours a week at Mencap. For her, it offers a valuable social experience.
“She thinks it is a special treat to go there to play and to socialise and have fun with like-minded people in a secure and supportive environment.
“We have been using West Berkshire Mencap for six years and we would be truly lost and devastated if it had to reduce services. We have nowhere else for our children to go.
“It is very wrong for the council to reduce the funding to such vulnerable members of our community. If funds need to be found there are other places and things that we can manage without.
“Parents of disabled children need a break. We need to work but have few options for childcare. Our main care of choice is Mencap.”
The council is currently holding a public consultation on both sets of proposals, and the leader of the council, Graham Jones, said: “These are a set of proposals being consulted on so we can understand what the impact would be.
“We need all feedback before we make the decision, but there are still some very difficult decisions to be made because we have to take a lot of money out of the budget.”
West Berkshire Mencap is planning to deliver its petition to the council on January 20, the day both consultations are due to end.
