Resurfacing work begins around the Clock Tower
local councils thought about what we are going through? Who is looking out for us?
“The young vulnerable children’s category is catered for. Special needs schools stay open for them.
“The very elderly in our society are at the forefront of every discussion.
“Children of key workers are catered for.
“I am not for a second suggesting these groups don’t need help, but we are truly tired, so very tired.
“Caring for a young adult 24/7 is hard. We need help. Who do we turn to?
“Surely there must be something that can be done to help relieve the pressure.
“This group of people in our society are always forgotten.”
He said adults such as Krishna fell into neither the category which provides care for young people, nor the category which provides care for older people.
“We had the same hardship when our son was going through the transitional phase from child services to adult services at the age of 19,” said Hemant.
“Very little, if any, help was given to us through the minefield. We had no clue what the next phase of his life was going to consist of.
“We are a proud family who will always provide total, unconditional love for our disabled son and ask for very little, but this second lockdown has knocked the wind out of us. We are tired.
“Please take this message to the powers that be: families caring for young adults with severe needs have no escape.
“We are not only trapped. We have an added pressure of having to care for youngsters with extreme needs. “Please try to understand our needs and try to educate these people who inadvertently break the lockdown rules which in turn will only extend the period of struggle for families like mine.”
A Leicester City Council spokesman said: “We recognise how difficult lockdown has been for people receiving care and support, including those who usually attend a daytime service in the community. “Throughout the pandemic, the city council has continued to fund these vital day services – even when they’ve been closed – to help ensure facilities like this can reopen as soon as it’s safe to do so. “The decision on when and how a centre feels it is able to open safely will be made by the provider, and will depend on their individual premises and the needs of the people they support.
“The city council will be working with providers to ensure they can provide a safe environment when they are able to resume day care service. Outreach support can be arranged if the situation at home is becoming difficult for families.”
LEICESTER’S Clock Tower has been fenced off as work begins on revamping the surrounding area.
The city council has sectioned off an area around the monument as it begins removing granite slabs and replacing them with paving similar to that used in Jubilee Square, Cathedral Gardens and Green Dragon Square.
Workmen are taking advantage of the local lockdown which has left streets much quieter than normal.
The scheme will initially focus on the area immediately around the Clock Tower, but once complete will extend to the recently resurfaced High Street and its junctions with Humberstone Gate and Gallowtree Gate.
The work is just one phase of a much wider £8 million scheme to transform the shopping streets around the Clock Tower, and pedestrianise Church Gate, Haymarket and part of Belgrave Gate.
The pedestrianisation will be made possible by the creation of Savoy Street, a new link road for buses between Belgrave Gate and Mansfield Street.
Work on the new link road is due to be complete later this summer.
City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “This much-needed revamp of the paving will refresh this popular meeting spot and give it the same prestige as our public squares in the city centre. But it is just one phase of a much more ambitious plan to transform and improve this part of the city centre.
“By removing the buses, and by upgrading the environment on Belgrave Gate and Church Gate, we will give private developers the confidence to invest in the shops and businesses in the area – and that’s something that I’m sure will be welcomed by local traders in these very challenging times.”
We are a proud family who will always provide total love for our disabled son and ask for very little
Hemant