Disabled people say they have been left to “wander the streets” with “no alternative provision” after a popular day centre closed its doors. Tudor Street Day Centre in Abergavenny - formerly known as My Day My Life - closed in March 2020, which Monmouthshire County Council staff said was due to the impact of the pandemic.
But the authority, which launched a review of its My Day My Life support services for adults with learning difficulties in September, now wants to take a decision to confirm the permanent closure of the Tudor Street building and develop flats there instead. The conclusion of the review isn’t due until March and the council fears that could mean changes to planning rules, due to come into force from June, would make it harder for it to redevelop the building and use the site for affordable housing.
Locals have raised concerns that they were not consulted on the plans. Some people who used the day centre received letters last month, but most said they hadn't received any notice and were shocked by the news of permanent closure, having been looking forward to the centre reopening for two years.
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Karen Webb, whose son Alex Davies used the centre every day, said while the letter was heartbreaking it wasn’t a surprise to her. She was one of the large group of protesters campaigning outside the centre on Wednesday, who chanted: “We care, do you?”
“Alex has Salla disease, which means he can’t do anything on his own,” Karen explained. “He started using the day centre when he was in college and I also work, so he went there in the holidays when I was working and then the plan was that when he finished college in the summer of 2020 he’d use the day centre five days a week. I’d drop him off in the morning, go to work, and pick him up in the afternoon.
“We thought it was fair that the day centre had closed due to the pandemic and for fear of Covid, but the longer it went on the more and more questions were asked. Everybody was asking, this has been going on for years. As soon as it started being dragged out with no answers I said they’re going to knock it down and build houses on it.”
Alex, 23, now relies on support workers accompanying him either at home or in Abergavenny. Karen said while the support workers are “brilliant”, he needs a “permanent, warm, dry space that suits his needs”.
“When he finished in the summer we had support workers coming to the house spending a lot of time in the house or taking him out somewhere,” Karen said. “As time went on we thought things would go back to normal and I kept asking and asking the social workers and the manager at the centre what was going on, but they didn’t know.
“The centre has gone to rack and ruin. As time has gone on four days a week I have someone to come to the house to help now. Three days I work and the other time is for me to go to the gym. I've said all along I need a base I can drop Alex off to. Fair enough, get him out in the community and get him meeting new people, that’s all fine. But Alex and his friends need a dry and safe place to go to when the weather isn’t very good and when they need to socialise.
“Alex is a bright person, he has just finished college, and he is happiest when he has things to stimulate him. He has gone from college doing things that stimulate him to nothing. It’s not fair.”
Sarah Chicken’s 26-year-old daughter Emily, who has Rett syndrome and needs around the clock care, used to use the centre before it closed. Sarah says she has seen Emily and other service users slowly deteriorate over the last two years without the centre.
“My husband and I have struggled for years to get Emily the support she needs and I feel so passionately that the centre needs to be open for people like Emily,” Sarah said. “Many of them can’t get out and protest, their needs are too complex - like Emily. We need to be their voices.
“There are some people who used the centre, like Emily, who cannot do anything for themselves. They cannot just go out to town and do anything, especially when it’s cold. They need things going on, whether it be sensory or music - just somewhere to go for a bit. It’s so important. I think the people making these decisions don’t have an understanding of the attention to detail that we as parents and carers need to have.”
Emily currently doesn’t have a care package, so she spends every day at home. “It’s so difficult,” Sarah said. “Where do you go? We have to think about it again and again. Many places are not accessible.”
Cabinet member for social care Tudor Thomas attended the protest outside the centre on Wednesday with a mic and a speaker to explain the council’s stance on the building. “There has been a gradual decline in the number of people regularly using Tudor Street since about 2014,” he told the campaigners.
“Before Covid it was open for something like three days a week. I made a decision on August 31 this year to allow for an independent review of the service. It’s still ongoing. It is obviously with people with learning disabilities and their families and carers. The purpose of the review is to establish the basis for future service development including the exploration of accommodation options in keeping with the purpose and ethos of the service. That review is due to conclude in March 2023.” Some campaigners then began chanting “liar, liar, pants on fire” before Cllr Thomas decided to stop speaking and leave the protest.
Sarah Griffiths, 38, who suffers from hydrocephalus and used the service most weekdays before its closure, then took the mic to speak to the crowd. She said she had grown lonely since the closure of the day centre.
“The care centre is important because I can see more friends,” she explained. “Life has become lonely. If I see a friend now it’s once in a blue moon when I go into town. I miss them. Out of all of the people here I used the centre for the longest time - for around 20 years. I now go out with my support worker once a week. Where is the service? My friends now go to cafes or Wetherspoons. There is no service in that.”
Owen Lewis, who used to work at the care home and loved his time there so much that he even wrote a novel on it called Vulnerable Voices, said it is “simply not true” that people did not use the day centre. “When I worked there until 2017 I know there were at least 50 people using that service every day,” he said. He has set up a petition to keep the centre open which you can see here.
“I’ve spoken to many people this week saying they’d love to use the service more. I really believe these people still need somewhere to go with inhouse activities. Our towns are not accessible for people with disabilities and we need centres like Tudor Street to support those in need.”
Cllr Tudor Thomas later added this statement: “I would like to thank everyone who took the time to come out in the cold to share their views in Abergavenny. A letter highlighting the decision to permanently close Tudor Street was communicated directly to the families concerned before the individual cabinet member decision was made.
“We are developing the way that day services are delivered for people with learning disabilities within the community. There has been a gradual decline in the number of people regularly using Tudor Street since 2014, when the Council began to support people with learning disabilities through using alternative community-based options based on people’s individual preferences and interests.
“An independent review of My Day My Life Services using a collaborative and inclusive approach with people with learning disabilities and their families/carers, is currently underway. The purpose of the review is to establish the basis for future service development including the exploration of accommodation options in-keeping with the purpose and ethos of the service. This review is scheduled to conclude in March 2023, and the recommendations will form the basis of a report.
“We remain committed to meeting the care and support needs of adults with learning disabilities to live the lives they want to live – based on what matters to them."
Cllr. Sara Burch, who also attended the protest to listen to campaigners’ views, said: “A safe and secure place to call home is essential for everyone – and we are focussed on addressing the lack of affordable housing in Monmouthshire. Accelerating the decision regarding the future of Tudor Street, and therefore permanent closure, will enable an opportunity to repurpose the site for much-needed housing development ahead of uncertainty associated with the proposed amended TAN15 policy. The proposed redevelopment of a vacant property will remove the council’s ongoing liability whilst facilitating the construction of good quality housing for people’s needs. Development of the site will increase the availability of affordable housing, including the provision of accommodation for the homeless, in accordance with the council’s policy objectives.”
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