Day centre closures action group to hold meeting

Action group to meet in Newbury tonight (Tuesday) to form plan to reverse day centre closures

AN ACTION group formed to fight against the closure of five day centres across West Berkshire is to hold its first meeting tonight in Newbury.

Held at 7:30pm at the Newbury Town football club building in Faraday Road, the group of carers, service users and their families are to co-ordinate a campaign to reverse West Berkshire Council's decision to axe Hillcroft House, in Thatcham, Downlands Day Centre, in Compton, Windmill Court Day Centre , in Mortimer, Shaw Day Centre in Newbury, and the Ormonde centre in Newbury.

The meeting is to create a steering committee and kick-start the campaign to save the centres, which cater for vulnerable, elderly and disabled people across the district.

Newbury Labour party spokesman Richard Garvie said he has a consultancy role, and he has invited the chief executive of West Berkshire Council Nick Carter and the leader of the council, Graham Jones (Con, Lambourn), to attend.

Many of those expected to attend also took part in a protest over the closures at the council offices in Market Street on Tuesday, March 15.

Around 30 people held a sit-in demonstration for two hours during morning office hours where they demanded representatives from the council appear to speak to them.

The protest was the third to take place on the issue since December.

West Berkshire Council said it plans to use the £2 million it will save by closing the centres by pumping £3.2 million into its spend on adult social care.

It blamed the growing ageing population as the reason for the spiralling cost of adult social care, and said the introduction of personal budgets for vulnerable clients to pay for their own care will over time reduce the strain the service puts on the council's finances.