Campaign launched to save disability care centre

More than 2,000 people have signed a petition in an attempt to prevent the closure of a day centre for people with disabilities in East Sussex.

In Brighton & Hove City Council's annual budget, it is proposing to close Wellington House Day Centre, to save £400,000.

Parent and carer Susan Starr said the recommendation "made her feel uneasy" and "prayed the council would not stop the service".

Mitchie Alexander, the authority's cabinet member for communities, equalities, public health and adult social care, said: "We are looking at changes to how we deliver some of our day support services for adults."

He said it was to ensure "we continue to provide people with high-quality support" while remaining sustainable for the future.

According to the annual budget, should the proposals be approved, Wellington House would be "repurposed or create a capital receipt".

Starr, along with carers, parents and union members, protested outside Hove Town Hall before the council's annual budget meeting on 26 February.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): "My daughter, Becky, comes home three nights a week.

"She won't leave the house unless she's going to Wellington House."

Corinna Edwards-Colledge, Brighton & Hove Unison union member, said the closure would be a "disaster".

"These 21 people would not have a service in the community," she said.

She criticised the council's proposed cost-cutting as a "false economy".

"People who use the service are likely to end up in residential care which could cost the council hundreds of thousands of pounds," she added.

Other parents and carers have told the LDRS there were no "realistic alternatives" for them.

Sue Holder, whose autistic son has complex needs including epilepsy, said: "If Wellington House closed, it would be a total disaster to my son and our family life."

The council said it would be running a consultation with service users, families and carers, and Wellington House staff.

Alexander said: "Only if we are completely satisfied that every single service user can be provided for locally, and with the same or a higher level of day care provision, will we then move ahead and re-commission the provision for all 21 adults who currently attend Wellington House."

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