Ealing Council have begun a consultation process as they plan to shut 18 out of 25 children centres in the borough.
The children centres provide support to children and parents in the borough such as speech aid, ante-natal care and a sense of community.
The planners of Ealing Council, at a consultation at Havelock Children Centre, say that the reduction in centres is required in order to more correctly target families who aren’t currently using the service at the moment and will allow them to target their support more effectively.
But some residents at the meeting earlier this month took issue with the proposals.
A user of these children centres, Jaspal Sandhu, 44, however said: “This [closing the children centres] is segregating the community rather than integrating communities.”
The council plans to work closer with religious communities in order to provide services in religious buildings, such as Hinduism, Islam and Christianity.
However, concerns were expressed strongly regarding the safety of using these spaces and their attitude towards care for children.
Sandhu said: “Parents won’t go there with their problems. If it’s domestic violence they won’t go.”
Sandhu raised points which brought applause from the rest of the room, noting that children centres provided a place for cultures to mingle with one another, and that subjecting this back into religious places would mean these connections would be weakened.
Dr Jenny Watson is a GP in Ealing and also runs a stay and play programme at St John’s Church in West Ealing.
She said: “When you reduce certain centres, you reduce the local feel.”
She expressed a worry from a medical point of view regarding the integration of healthcare provision.
At the existing children centres, there is easy access to healthcare such as ante-natal care and speech therapy, one of the worries Watson expressed is that if these health centres are closed down is that these services will become less accessible and less local.
The council argue that opening new centres means they will be able to improve their services.
The planners made effort to convey throughout the meeting was that some of their centres currently are not able to be open for all hours throughout the week, and they said this would be able to change with more centralised service.
They say that centralised centres allows them to spend money more effectively in a smaller environment and tailor their care in a more affordable and astute way.
There was an immense amount of diversity within the room, with questions and answers being translated between English, Punjabi and Hindi.
With an impassioned speech from a local mother, which when translated said: “What is important is that there is a community support in the area.”
No one in the meeting endorsed the closures proposed by the council while people stated they were confused and didn’t understand the shift towards fewer centres.
They want a development of current services rather than closures and more isolated services.
An Ealing council spokesperson said: “The council is exploring the option of fewer, but more accessible centres, with extended opening hours and an expanded range of services.
“It is also considering how to deliver support closer to home through other community spaces such as libraries and local community centres.”
The council also reiterated that no decisions have been made yet and the consultations will continue online and in person until 27 April.
Featured Image Credit – Oscar Glyn
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