‘It would be wicked to shut Sotheby Mews Day Centre’
Campaigners fighting to save day centre say vulnerable people ‘will lose the will to live’
Published: 24 September, 2010
by TERRY MESSENGER
PENSIONERS are hoping a recent boost in attendance numbers will save a much-loved day centre from closure.
Campaigners have issued a stark warning that vulnerable people “will lose the will to live” if the axe falls on the Sotheby Mews Day Centre in Highbury.
Islington Council cast doubt over the centre’s future by announcing a consultation into attendance, claiming its popularity had dwindled.
But this week Henry Bourner, chairman of the users’ board, said attendance had risen above the borough’s criteria for survival and a campaign to save the centre now has “a fighting chance of success”.
“We’re going to give them a run for their money,” he declared. “We’ve been putting on more activities and drawing people in. We’ve been pushing our members to tell their friends to come in and it’s working.”
Sotheby Mews supporters are also planning to present a petition to Labour council leader Catherine West on October 5.
The borough will stage a six-week consultation with users later in the year to help decide the future of the centre, which it funds with a £166,000 grant – against a background of drastic cuts in money available for public services.
Activities offered at Sotheby’s, as its known locally, include keep-fit, gardening, trips out, parties, massage, tai chi, indoor bowls, yoga, line-dancing and cake decorating. Meals and hairdressing are also available.
If the centre does survive, it will come as a great relief to Cerelia Lynk, of Ronalds Road, Highbury. Ms Lynk claimed it saved her sanity after her husband died earlier this year.
“I was on my own and I was frightened I was losing my mind. I went to the doctor and he said I’m all right, I won’t hang myself, but I need to get out of the house.
“He arranged for me to come to come down here and it’s made a lot of difference. When I get up in the morning now, I look forward to coming out. I enjoy the friendship, the company and the activities like exercises and knitting.
“A lot of us depend on this place and without it we would have nowhere to go. It would be wicked to shut this place.”
Joyce Smith, 82, of Catherhill Road, Highbury, believes services for older people should be preserved as authorities decide where to swing the axe. She said: “Younger people have got their lives before them but our lives are now.”
Mr Bourner warned: “Putting it bluntly, a lot of older members will lose the will to live and die if this place shuts.”
The council owns the building and gives the charity Age Concern a £166,000 grant run the day centre.
Cllr West said in a letter to Joyce Smith that it was set up for 60 people daily but the number attending had been “a lot lower” in recent years. The council is considering alternative provision including smaller clubs in other buildings.
Mr Bourner said Sotheby’s was now attracting an average of 65 people daily. When the Tribune visited on Monday, 71 people had signed the attendance book.
Mr Bourner argued that older people needed stability and continuity which would be destroyed by dispersal to other buildings.
Mary Weeks, 85, of Blackstock Road, Highbury said: “I want to stay here. Familiarity is very important. I know this place, it's friendly and I feel welcome. I went to a new place once but I didn’t like the atmosphere. I sat down and was told – get out of my chair. That wouldn’t happen here.”
Councillor Janet Burgess, executive member for health and adult social care, said: “Attendance at Sotheby has been variable but we’ll be sure to take all the data into account when making our proposals.
“No decision has been made about the centre’s future.”