During the leaving party for users of the Medina Centre on Wednesday, we managed to catch some time with a parent from the centre.
Kenneth Sharp’s daughter has been going to the Medina Centre five days a week for the last six years.
We’ve heard from many parents of other users of the centre, who say their sons and daughters view their daily visits to the Centre as ‘going to work’. This was how Kenneth’s daughter describes her visits too.
As echoed by Becky in her article yesterday about the closure of the service, the atmosphere at the Medina Centre is that of one big family and the changes are hitting those who attend hard.
Although she has been told, Kenneth’s daughter doesn’t really understand yet that she won’t be returning to the Centre anymore.
So from now on her full time care will fall onto the shoulders of Kenneth and his wife, both of whom are in their 70s.
We heard that some parents have got together to start legal proceedings to challenge the closures and cut in personal budgets. A solicitor on the Island has agreed to help out and we’ll let you know when we hear more.
Kenneth had more to share, listen to his interview by clicking on the play button below.
[audio:http://otw-audio.s3.amazonaws.com/kenneth-sharp-medina-centre-closure.mp3]
