Garvald Centre celebrates as council performs funding U-turn

A CENTRE supporting people with learning difficulties is celebrating after the council performed a U-turn and agreed to continue funding dozens of its members.

The Garvald Centre was told on Christmas Eve that the local authority would no longer pay for those with low to moderate support needs to attend the much-loved facility.

This would have meant 36 vulnerable adults – some of whom attended for 20 years and on a daily basis – would no longer be able to go to the Gorgie resource.

However, after a tireless fight, the Garvald Centre Parent, Carers and Members Action Group will now receive letters from the council saying the funding will continue.

A campaign spokeswoman said: “This is absolutely tremendous news, not just for the 36 who were under threat but for the centre as a whole.

“It is such an important place for the service users and parents and carers, it’s what makes life work for them, without it it’s very hard to imagine how it would work.

“But we are grateful for the council reviewing this and allowing the funding.”

There are more than 100 service users who attend the centre, ranging from those who need little support to those who require intense help.

It is the blend of people that make the centre a unique facility, the organisation said, and removing those with lower to moderate needs would not only harm their development, but would also mean they could not muck in with workers to perform other tasks at the centre.

“It has been a really anxious and stressful time for not just parents and carers, but the service users too,” the spokeswoman added.

“It’s not just a centre where people spend the day, many of our members are out and about.

“The mix of people is really unique and make the centre what it is.”

The campaign had enlisted the help of Labour health and social care spokeswoman Cllr Lesley Hinds, who said: “I’m really delighted for them, it’s been a long fight and I’m glad they’ve made the U-turn on this now.

“Hopefully other centres in the same position will be able to take encouragement from this. I’m due to visit the centre next week and I’ll be glad to see everyone in a much happier frame of mind than before.”

A council spokeswoman said: “The council is currently consulting with carers and service users about future services from Garvald. We have continued with the previously agreed process for assessing people who use this service to ensure they are getting the right service for them whether in Garvald or elsewhere.”