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| Marchers plead: ‘Save our
centre’ |
Protest over threat to haven
for mentally ill
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Marchers escorted by police on their way to the Town Hall
Placard-wielding protester
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CAMPAIGNERS marched on the Town Hall on Tuesday to protest at
the threatened closure of a mental health day centre.
Some 30 protesters with placards were given a police escort from
Jamestown day centre in Adelaide Road, Chalk Farm, to the Town Hall
in Judd Street, King’s Cross.
The centre, which opened in 1968, is the biggest of Camden’s
six mental health day centres.
With its large garden and pond, it has become a haven for sufferers
of mental illness. It holds cooking courses to help build sufferers’
self esteem and runs schemes to encourage people back to work.
Marcher Paul Lansbury, who has used the centre for eight years,
said: “Normally I would be too embarrassed to do something
like this. When we go out we get ridiculed and shouted at in the
street. We have all summoned up a tremendous spirit.”
He added: “People don’t understand the importance of the
day centre. Sometimes we need an environment where we feel safe
from the outside world.”
Protester Vijay Patel said the centre had given him a new lease
of life. He added: “The cooking course means I can cook by
myself now. It’s a little bit of independence.
“We are a family here. I don’t want to be stuck in my
home. None of us know what we’ll do if the centre goes.”
Camden has the highest suicide rate in the country and many on the
march feared this would rise if day centres were replaced by home
visits.
They predict hospital mental health wards will be flooded by a wave
of new patients.
Camden’s six mental health day centres take up £1.5 million
of its £2.5 million annual mental health care budget.
Day centre users were consulted in November last year on a proposal
to switch to home visits.
Haverstock Lib Dem councillor Jill Fraser, who attended a Town Hall
protest meeting on Tuesday, said plans to close Jamestown could
not be justified. She added: “That the council would even consider
the closure is disgraceful. Are they just going to build more flats
in its place?”
Town Hall health and social services boss, Labour councillor Geethika
Jayatilaka, said the council said: “I would like to stress
that no reccomendation, let alone decision, has been made. I am
willing to talk to mental health service users any time they like.
We are just working out how to spend our money more wisely. We have
added £800,000 to the mental health care budget this year.
“We have already talked to the residents who need and use mental
health services across Camden, and it was clear that the majority
wanted help to get out of their homes and get on with their lives.”
A decision will be made on Jamestown’s fate on October 14. |
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