'Huge support' for rally against closure of Burnham day centre

A rally of concerned family members gathered in Burnham at the weekend to once more protest proposals to scrap a day centre for people with disabilities and complex needs.

Burnham Short Breaks Day Service, run by Buckinghamshire County Council, offers activities such as games, arts and crafts and life skills for its users.

It specialises in autism, complex needs, dementia, leaning and physical disabilities, and sensory impairments. It takes referrals only through the adult social care pathway.

But the long-standing day centre is under threat of closure after Bucks council said keeping it open was ‘not sustainable.’

As such, a consultation ran until the end of January proposing to reduce the seven council-run centres to three: Aylesbury Opportunity Centre, Chesham Short Breaks Centre and Spring Valley Day Centre in High Wycombe.

Since then, loved ones of those using Burnham Short Breaks Day Service have been protesting the ‘ill-thought-out’ plan, having held a protest mid-January and another at the weekend.

Several people have been attending the day centre for many years – and in some cases, decades.

Hazel Howe, who organised the rally, has a son who has been going there for 13 years.

She said Burnham Short Breaks is ‘one of the better centres’, with its large activity rooms and corridors adapted for wheelchair users, based on flat ground for easier access to town.

“What Buckinghamshire council is doing is wrong. Burnham shouldn’t be on that list as a proposed site,” said Hazel.

“My son has got complex needs. This site meets our loved ones' needs [and] Buckinghamshire council have offered us proposals that are not going to.”

A rally against the closure of Burnham Short Breaks Day Service took place outside its base on Saturday (March 29.)

Attending were family and carers, supportive residents, Burnham parish and local authority councillors from Bucks and Slough Borough councils, and MP for Beaconsfield Joy Morrissey.

Ms Morrissey gave a speech in support of the campaigners, and Hazel gave an ‘emotional’ account of her and her son’s own experiences.

“We had huge support,” Hazel told the Advertiser. “It feels like everyone is behind us.”

Some of those at the rally have been seeking a place at the day centre but have not been able to get one, she added.

Hazel questions Buckinghamshire Council’s financial reasons for closing, saying these requests show the day centre has much untapped value, and good use can be made of it.

Moreover, carers are saving ‘millions of pounds’ for Bucks in adult social care bills, she argues, by not placing their loved ones in residential care.

“We’re talking about working age adults – my son is 33 and I’m caring for him,” Hazel said.

A Buckinghamshire Council spokesperson said that ‘no decisions have been made.’

A report on the consultation findings and a proposed service model for day opportunities and overnight respite will go to the council's cabinet for a decision in late summer 2025.

Any changes will be ‘phased to ensure that every adult supported has the right suitable care in place to meet their needs,’ the spokesperson said.

The consultation papers and an FAQ can be found at yourvoicebucks.citizenspace.com/adult-social-care/better-lives-in-our-communities