Charity supporting people with complex needs has funding pulled
The council decided to take away £50,000.
A charitable organisation that offers a vital summer activities scheme in Dumfries and Galloway for people with complex needs has had its funding cut by the local authority.
In last month’s full council meeting, councillors decided to pull the £50,000 as part of the budget-saving process.
The money would have gone towards offering accessible activities over the summer.
Manager of D&G Carers Centre Lesley Jeffrey is concerned about the impact this will have and believes a better solution could have been found:
“It came as a shock that the council decided to withdraw this funding completely when they are offering it for other similar activities. Even if they had reduced the amount, it wouldn’t have been too bad.
“For parent carers of children with complex needs, it is essential that they have some support throughout the summer. It gives the child some structure and also respite for the parents. I’m really worried about the impact this will have when these things are not available for them.
“We use the funding to help parents where their children couldn’t go along to mainstream activities. They could apply for some sensory equipment or something for the garden to help them get through the summer holidays.”
A council spokesperson says, “The Summer Activity Scheme, a long-standing council-funded initiative, has provided grants in recent years to both the Carers Centre and the Parents Inclusion Network.
“As part of our council’s budget-saving process, a proposal to remove the £50,000 funding allocation was submitted and subsequently agreed upon at Full Council in February.
“Before the proposal was confirmed, the necessary impact assessments were conducted based on the potential removal of funding.
“A mitigation plan, which was included in the template as part of the budget process, is publicly accessible as a council record relating to the budget and is available on our website.”
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