We’ll fight to save Brookdale Centre
APETITION has been launched against the potential closure of a specialist day centre in Ainsdale.
In December last year, Sefton Council released a list of five day centres that were at risk of closure, as the authority looked to plug a £55m budget deficit.
Brookdale Day Service provides a day centre care provision for those who suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s – while also offering respite for those who care for loved ones with the conditions.
With the petition amassing more than 680 signatures against the closure so far, campaigners say that the “outrageous plans” will “shatter the lives of our most vulnerable citizens.”
Albert Hooley is a 91-year-old Royal Navy World War Two veteran who was awarded the Citizen of Honour of the City of Liverpool – serving as a deep sea diver on board HMS Tartar, unwinding ropes attached to mines that had caught in the propellers of the destroyers.
Albert has Alzheimer’s and mixed dementia and attends Brookdale five days a week.
The group said Sefton Council’s “ill-considered and cruel proposals” to close down the Brookdale Centre “directly affect heroes like Albert, who deserve much better than this.” Campaigner, Pat Regan, said he thinks the council have not thought through their proposals properly.
He told the Visiter: “It is the only dementia specialist care centre in a catchment area of approximately 150,000 people. The council proposes to close it and move everybody across to another centre.
“This unit with specialist trained staff provides a day care service for older people with Alzheimer’s and Dementia and deals with cases from early onset to the later stages of the illness.
“It provides a vital lifeline for carers, giving them the required respite while eing assured of the safety, health and wellbeing of their loved ones at the centre.
“We need everybody’s support to press the council to keep this wonderful centre open.”
Doris Pennington, on the group’s Facebook page, Friends of Brookdale, said: “The loss of Brookdale could mean that the clients who presently attend could face another upheaval, which is really not good for those suffering Alzheimer’s disease.”
Former acting assistant manager, Joan Davey, 61, said: “There are no facilities like it in many places – it is unbelievable what goes on there.
“David Cameron is talking about making more places like this and then there is talk here, that one that is established and well-known could be shut.
“The people who use the centre have put into our society, to then be treated like this – they are vulnerable people.
“It is worth the fight to keep it open, because these services users cannot fight for themselves.”
Although saving money is one of the reasons behind the changes, Sefton says its review of day opportunities aims to provide modern services with an approach to supporting vulnerable people that is centred around individual needs.
Sefton says that many of the buildings that currently operate “day-care” are under-used, costly to run and are becoming unfit for purpose. A consultation period undertaken with current service users ended on January 29.
A spokesman for Sefton Council said: “Our public consultation about proposed changes to day centres and alternative opportunities has just come to a close.
“We will now look closely at all the comments and issues raised during that process before making detailed recommendations to the cabinet in due course.”
To sign the petition, visit https://you.38 degrees.org.uk/petitions/ save- the- brookdale- inainsdale