Carers continue fight for resource centres

The Friends of Barrhead and Thornliebank Resource Centres was created in response to the council’s controversial 2015-2018 budget proposal, and plans to merge the two centres.

The budget plan proposed that both could be replaced by a single hub, with an estimated saving of £90,000 — but, as reported in The Extra, carers worry that the proposal will cause transport problems, and that the standard of support for those with learning disabilities will suffer under a single team.

A representative of the Friends of group told The Extra: “We formed to engage with East Ren Council about the future of the resource centre. We’re opposing the plans to close one, and would like to work with the council to retain and develop both these centres as valuable resources for learning disabled people in East Renfrewshire.”

Following a meeting this week with East Renfrewshire MP Kirsten Oswald, the representative added: “It was great to meet Kirsten and share our concerns about changes to social care in East Ren.”

Kirsten added: “It was a real pleasure to meet users and families at the Thornliebank Centre. I very much enjoyed seeing all of the activities that take place at the centre, and hearing about all of their external activities and plans too.

“It is clear that the day centres provide a service which is hugely important to and valued by services users and their families. I hope that a way forward can be found which will allow the centres to continue to operate.”