Volunteers 'devastated' at garden centre closure

Learning disabled volunteers and their families say they are "devastated" a west London community garden centre is set to be closed down.

More than 4,500 have signed a petition urging the Hillingdon Council to keep the Rural Activities Garden Centre (RAGC) in Colham open.

A group of learning disabled adults help maintain the garden centre, and some have attended for decades and see it as a critical part of their routine, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Hillingdon Council says the centre is making an annual loss of £137,000 a year which is being subsidised by local taxpayers and and volunteers will be offered alternative "learning and developmental opportunities".

Terry, who has been volunteering at the garden centre for several years, said he had "stopped leaving the house" before he began working there.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he said: "My mum got ill with dementia and I had to look after her, when she died I was suggested to come here, it's now the only place I come to.

"If this place closes I won't be doing anything again, it makes me upset."

Wayne, a volunteer of over 30 years at the RAGC, says he loves the work and the people he works with.

His father Stuart says it is the "one thing that gives them a purpose in life". Without it, he says, many volunteers would be "stuck at home".

"All of these people will be devastated," he added. "We all need this place, what it does for people, and the community it brings. We need it."

Hillingdon Council says it will continue supporting volunteers by offering horticultural placements in gardens and public areas around the borough's Civic Centre in Uxbridge.

The local authority says this will provide "enriched learning and developmental opportunities" and "a wider range of activities than they currently experience at the garden centre".

The report on the future of the Rural Activities Garden Centre is due to be will be considered by the council's Cabinet on 26 June.

Hillingdon Council said: "We are committed to ensuring all volunteers with assessed social care needs receive enriched learning and developmental opportunities.

"Unfortunately, the RAGC's retail operations are not economically viable and we cannot expect residents to subsidise a loss-making garden centre."

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