We fear for our future if our day centre closes

The threat of closure hanging over an Ayrshire community hub is leaving those who use it fearing for their future, according to service users.

They have told BBC Scotland News that The Morven Day Centre in Kilmarnock is a lifeline for about 120 adults with mental health problems or learning disabilities.

It enables them to take part in activities like swimming, singing groups and cookery classes, while offering them support to improve their day-to-day lives.

But now its future is under threat after East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Parternship (EAHSCP) announced plans to withdraw vital funding.

The centre received £233,593 from the council annually.

CrossReach, which runs the service, says it helps people control their mental health and prevent them reaching crisis point.

If it closes, people will go unsupported as no similar provision exists locally, it warned.

EAHSCP said it was contacting people who use the centre to help them find alternative support.

Ann Armour, 61, who has used the centre for three and a half years, said no services could match what the centre provided.

"This recovery centre for me has been my lifeline. I've been all over the country looking for help and I can hand on heart tell you, these people know what they're doing," she said.

"The fear of this happening and atmosphere from individuals in here is actually frightening."

As well as taking part in a variety of groups, she also volunteers at the centre and last year won an award for her efforts.

She said the centre had allowed her to live a decent life, without the fear of her world "caving in" everyday.

"Nobody likes change, everybody is terrified. The thing is, there a lot of people who haven't even yet met The Morven for their recovery.

"To take that before somebody even reaches here is absolutely despicable."

Cheryl Scott started going to The Morven Day Centre last May, after she suffered two strokes and a heart attack, causing her to lose her confidence.

She said she was a "shell of person" but the centre helped her make friends and develop in ways she could not have imagined.

"I was literally petrified to leave the house, I'd sat in the house for the last three years," she said.

"I'd lost all friends and it took me a big step to go to the Morven because I had never heard of it before. As soon as I walked in the door, people were so nice."

She has joined a singing group and she received support to move to a new home after she struggled to cope with the stairs in her former house.

"I don't want to sound too dramatic but I was sitting at home for three years waiting to die. I didn't see a future, I now have a future," she added.

"It's not the future I maybe envisaged when I was younger but it's a future and without the Morven I wouldn't have that at all."

She said the help they offer at the centre was not measurable and if it was to disappear, her and many others would not have anywhere to go.

"For some, there won't be a future and that's what I’m scared of," she added.

John MacDonald, the head of adult care services at CrossReach, said concern for service users was the number one priority.

"As such we are extremely worried that the implications of this decision will mean that people will have to go unsupported, as at this time no equivalent provision exists," he said.

"We firmly believe in the value of the model of care at Morven Day Services. We act early to help people regain control of their mental health, preventing them from reaching crisis point.

"We want to see greater investment in wellbeing and are looking at alternative options to keep the service going."

Local Scottish Conservative MSP Brian Whittle said he was "utterly opposed" to the decision which would pile extra strain on the NHS.

"As someone who has been a regular visitor to the centre for years, I've seen the difference it makes to the lives of people in and around Kilmarnock, giving them a sense of community and offering them new opportunities," he added.

EAHSCP said it came to the decision to close The Morven Day Centre after a review of services to ensure people were being appropriately supported, and that money was being spent effectively.

Jo Gibson, the parternship's head of wellbeing and recovery, said: "The wellbeing of East Ayrshire residents is our highest priority.

"All those currently attending the Morven Centre are in the process of being contacted, their needs discussed, and appropriate alternative supports identified. This has already begun."