Cupar children’s centre granted reprieve

CUPAR’S closure-threatened Eden Park children’s respite centre has been given a temporary reprieve — and hopes are high that the facility could avoid the axe altogether.

Fife Council has confirmed that the centre will stay open until at least the end of the current financial year while a review takes place into its long-term future.

It was announced in February that Eden Park would close in the autumn to save the council cash.

But the recently-elected Labour administration promised to look at the decision again following a concerted campaign to save the much-loved centre.

Independent Cupar councillor Bryan Poole, who has responsibility for education in the new regime, held meetings last week with concerned parents, Eden Park staff and senior social work officials.

He told the Fife Herald: “What we’ve committed to at the present time is that the Eden Park centre will not close in this financial year.

“The meetings were positive and the parents spoke very highly of the centre — as a council we should be proud of the work that goes on there.

“The social work department has found the money to offset the projected saving in an underspend elsewhere.”

Councillor Poole went on: “There is now a review going on into respite services.

“What we can commit to absolutely is that we will take into account the views of parents and staff and we will only look to improve the service.”

Cupar mum Kirsty Jackson, whose autistic son uses the centre, described the situation as “promising”.

She said: “There were a number of parents at the meeting and between us we managed to put forward a very strong case for keeping Eden Park open in the long term.

“Hopefully this will have made some difference to the decision making process.

“As opposed to last time, this time we are going to be kept in the loop with everything that’s happening.

“We are feeling a lot more positive than we were.”