Cutbacks fear at Bonar Bridge disabled and OAPs centre

A funding crisis may result in a reduction in the number of people able to attend the Bradbury Centre at Bonar Bridge. A last-ditch attempt to maintain the service will take place at Golspie tomorrow but the centre may have to close if it becomes unviable.

The Bradbury Centre has provided a service to the elderly and disabled community in East Sutherland since it opened in 1998. Transport has always been a problem but for the past six years a grant from the Scottish Government resolved this problem and people from Dornoch, Edderton, Lairg and Rosehall attend the lunch club and social activities in the centre.

Last year the Scottish Government funding was transferred to Highland Council as part of the Concordat with the government and they administered the money for the first year giving all groups the same amount of money as they had previously received. However last month the transport educational and community (Tec) services committee decided to withdraw funding to the Bradbury from the end of August, stating the project should be a social work and not TEC services responsibility.

Bradbury Centre manager Lorraine Askew asked why should they suffer because of an internal wrangle over whose budget it is.

She said: “We seem to be being treated as piggy in the middle. Many of the people using our service have been assessed by social work as requiring care and the council should therefore be paying for the transport to enable them to attend to receive that care.”

She said it didn’t matter where the money comes from but without it they cannot continue.

Mrs Askew said the centre’s board has decided to buy a minibus but will require revenue funding to keep it operational and if their request for funding from the council is successful they will be able to keep the centre operational.