Day centre set to shut gets last minute reprieve

A charity that was due to close later has been given a last gasp reprieve to continue operating for at least another two months.

Age Concern Twyford, struggling financially after a decline in membership and donations, was told by Wokingham Borough Council on Thursday that it would receive new funding, ahead of a planned closure on Friday.

Debs Heffernan, the centre's care manager, said the authority's intervention to keep it open until the end of October was "fantastic" for members and staff.

The council said other providers will be given the chance to bid to run the service to ensure it has a long-term future.

Age Concern Twyford has offered day care for elderly members, providing respite for family members and reducing isolation, for 38 years.

The charity has its own board of trustees and is independent of other Age Concern branches that were previously absorbed by Age UK.

"We've had tears, we've had anger, we've had concern that [relatives] wouldn't be able to cope with their loved ones at home because people are still working," Heffernan said.

"There was talk of putting [service users] in care homes… We're here to avoid the care homes – to give them the independence for as long as they possibly can to live in the community.

"For them to know we were closing was heartbreaking to see families and members in that situation. To see their faces when we announced we are not closing our doors yet, it was amazing."

For Anna Williams, from Earley, the centre remaining open is a huge relief.

She said her family spent the last week researching potential care homes for her father-in-law Selwyn because of the possible loss of the centre.

But she said she was "absolutely over the moon" about the centre's continuing operation and that it will give her family time to decide what is best for them all.

The council's leader Stephen Conway said the authority recognises the service is "tremendously important".

The day centre's building is provided by the council rent-free and Conway said staff worked hard to ensure the service was not lost.

"We are hoping that we will have a new provider or at least a new way of operating the centre so it will continue to flourish and do all the work that it does for Twyford and the district," he added.