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Warning that axed bus could close day centre
Attendance dwindles as regulars face long wait for transport
A HIGHBURY day centre for the over-60s is threatened with closure because a cut in transport is hitting attendance, it was revealed this week.
Islington Council decided to save £50,000 earlier this year by axing one of two vital minibuses used to ferry pensioners to Sotheby Mews Day Centre, at Highbury Park, and Drovers Day Centre in Holloway.
With just an eight-seater bus to be shared by the two centres, it means many members who attend Sotheby Mews are picked up so late in the day they miss lunch.
For others, it has resulted in weekly shopping outings being cancelled. Now some people are saying there’s no point in coming to the centre.
If membership dwindles, the centre could shut. Run by Islington Help the Aged, it offers a lifeline to pensioners, particularly if they are on their own.
Henry Bourner, chairman of the members’ committee, said there were no problems when the centre had its own bus to pick people up in the morning and take them home in the afternoon.
“Now they are picking up people to take them to the Drovers Centre before coming here to Sotheby later in the day,” he said. “It means that, instead of being dropped off at the centre at 9.30am or 10am and being able to spend the whole day with us, many don’t arrive until noon or even later. Often they are too late for lunch.
“Our people are sitting waiting at home for hours for this bus. Many are so fed up they are reducing the days they come to the centre, which means they are stuck indoors.”
Cynthia Blezard, 81, who suffers from arthritis, said she and a group looked forward to their twice-weekly supermarket trip by minibus.
“Now I’m told there’s no time,” she added. “It means I’m going to have to shop locally and have to carry heavy bags.”
The centre has launched a petition to restore the bus, with support from Islington North Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn.
Age Concern Islington chief executive Deborah Fowler said: “Having only one bus can dramatically reduce the amount of time people can stay at a day centre and the journey can be intolerably long. In terms of making apparently efficient use of transport, the danger is you make less efficient use of the centres because people are spending less time at them.”
The council insists many able-bodied pensioners are capable of taking public transport or walking to the day centres. Lib Dem deputy leader Councillor Terry Stacy said the aim was to make better use of the council’s fleet by using one vehicle for two centres.
He added: “I live across the road from the Sotheby centre but I have not been made aware of these problems. If Mr Bourner would like to inform me I will happily investigate concerns with social services and get back to him.” |
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