The Morven Day Services launched the petition and had a protest outside East Ayrshire Council Offices following the news about the funding cut
Hundreds have railed against plans to strip vital funding from a lifeline mental health service.
Morven Day Services is under threat after it was announced that East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership ( EAHSCP) had withdrawn funding.
The community hub currently supports more than 130 people living with mental health issues in the area.
The devastating news has left volunteers and service users feeling “distressed”.
The Morven Day Services had a petition signing day at the Burns Mall on Saturday, February 3, followed by the protest outside East Ayrshire Council Offices on London Road on Wednesday, February 7.
Martin Hancock, a service user and volunteer at Morven Day Services and also the chair of the Morven Day Services service user committee, said: “On Saturday 551 people signed our petition at the Burns Mall and through our online petition and service users getting additional signatures from friends and family, we now have over 1100 signatures.
In order to petition East Ayrshire Council to attempt and overturn the decision or come up with a workable solution, we are currently working to get 1500 signatures.”
Run by Crossreach, the social work division of the Church of Scotland, Morven Day Services has been offering the service for more than 30 years.
The clinic offers adult residents of East Ayrshire support, counselling, and a range of therapies to reduce stress and anxiety.
They provide a variety of programmes, such as gardening, yoga, music therapy, walking groups, arts and crafts, jewellery making, and swimming.
“The wellbeing of East Ayrshire residents is our highest priority,” stated Jo Gibson, Head of wellness and Recovery with EAHSCP, in response to the announcement.
“We are in the process of getting in touch with everyone who is presently residing at the Morven Centre, discussing their needs, and identifying suitable substitute resources. This has already started.”
Martin asserts that East Ayrshire Council has only communicated with service customers via mail, sending them a directory of nearby services that offers only “limited” support.
He commented: “The few mental health services that were listed are either helplines or they only provide short-term support for a few weeks.
“No attempt has been made so far to contact each person individually as mentioned in the statement by Jo Gibson.”
Depute chief executive and director of health and social care partnership, Craig McArthur, responded to the claim: “Using contact information provided by the Morven Centre, we have written to each current service user on two occasions, we now also have a process underway by which each individual will be telephoned by a qualified mental health professional.
“Each person will receive this phone call before March 8. These various communications explain the decision taken and the reasons for this, and will support individuals into other services or groups as appropriate on a case by case basis.”
Volunteers and service users at Morven Day Services holding the next petition on Saturday, March 2 at Burns Mall Kilmarnock.
Leave a Reply