- Jun 4, 2004
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- 130,344
- Staff
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...and take a look around it's own community. Surely this is a great cause for the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation?
Tottenham and Wood Green pensioners to battle closure of old people’s homes and day centres
PENSIONERS have been shocked by a Haringey Council decision to close old people’s homes and day centres to save cash.
Elderly campaigners said they would not go down without a fight as the council confirmed TWO care homes and FIVE day centres in Tottenham and Wood Green would be closed.
Many pensioners have attended popular centres that host lunch clubs, bingo, tea dances, and many outings, as well as vital services such as footcare, for 20 years or more – and others face losing their homes altogether as old people’s homes are shutdown.
The moves were announced on Friday (December 17) when Haringey Council revealed the first wave of cuts to wipe £87million from its budget over the next three years to meet spending targets – the largest cuts in its history.
Retired accountant David Singh, 74, chairman of the Haringey Forum for Older People, said: “I’m absolutely shocked that these cuts are going out and affecting older people that have worked for 35 or 40 years and put money into the kitty.
“This is not fair. It’s grossly unfair that these people will be affected. I’m really, really disappointed and annoyed about this.”
Services for older people are the hardest hit in the first wave of cuts – and the east of the borough is worst affected.
Two drop-in centres, which run lunch clubs popular with many pensioners, will close by summer 2011 at The Irish Centre in Pretoria Road, Tottenham, and Woodside House in High Road, Wood Green.
Woodside Day Centre in White Hart Lane, Wood Green, which supports 45 vulnerable older people, will also close by April 2012.
Pensioners groups say many people rely on day centres as a social lifeline and more than 80 pensioners from the I Can Care group, who use services at Woodside House, mounted a vigorous campaign to save it when it was threatened two years ago.
Raj Doshi, chairman of I Can Care, said: “For them this will mean back to their prisons! Many of these people live alone, they have nobody, this is the only life they have.
“People are going to realise that they’ll lose this forever if they don’t stand up now. I think we will not go down without a fight and embarrassing the council, saying you are hitting the most disadvantaged here.”
Two old folk’s homes have also been earmarked to close by April 2013. They are Broadwater Lodge Older People’s Home in Higham Road, Tottenham, and Red House Residential Care Home in West Green Road, South Tottenham.
Mr Singh, who lives on Broadwater Farm Estate near to Broadwater Lodge, said: “Broadwater Lodge is at the centre of our heart here. Some people have lived there for over a decade. It will have a detrimental impact on their lives. If you’re saying they have to leave, where will they go?”
Care for people with physical disability and sensory impairments will also cease in the east of the borough as two more day centres providing specialist care are closed.
The Haven Day Centre in Waltheof Gardens, Tottenham, will be shut down, and The Grange Day Centre in White Hart Lane, Tottenham, will be merged with The Haynes Centre in Crouch End, by April 2012.
Haringey Council says the “speed and scale” of Government spending cuts has left little room for manoeuvre in addressing the unprecedented £87 million black hole.
The Government is making Haringey find more than half of the savings - £46 million - in the next year alone and it has been forced to take swift action.
The first wave of closures will be put out for consultation and brought back to the council’s cabinet in January.
Labour councillor Joe Goldberg, cabinet member for finance and sustainability, said: “We have to make some incredibly tough decisions and we have to make them very quickly or they won’t have a great enough impact on next year’s spending.
“Haringey is one of the most deprived boroughs in the country, and yet we are facing some of the harshest cuts as the Government shifts resources to more affluent areas.”
Tottenham and Wood Green pensioners to battle closure of old people’s homes and day centres
PENSIONERS have been shocked by a Haringey Council decision to close old people’s homes and day centres to save cash.
Elderly campaigners said they would not go down without a fight as the council confirmed TWO care homes and FIVE day centres in Tottenham and Wood Green would be closed.
Many pensioners have attended popular centres that host lunch clubs, bingo, tea dances, and many outings, as well as vital services such as footcare, for 20 years or more – and others face losing their homes altogether as old people’s homes are shutdown.
The moves were announced on Friday (December 17) when Haringey Council revealed the first wave of cuts to wipe £87million from its budget over the next three years to meet spending targets – the largest cuts in its history.
Retired accountant David Singh, 74, chairman of the Haringey Forum for Older People, said: “I’m absolutely shocked that these cuts are going out and affecting older people that have worked for 35 or 40 years and put money into the kitty.
“This is not fair. It’s grossly unfair that these people will be affected. I’m really, really disappointed and annoyed about this.”
Services for older people are the hardest hit in the first wave of cuts – and the east of the borough is worst affected.
Two drop-in centres, which run lunch clubs popular with many pensioners, will close by summer 2011 at The Irish Centre in Pretoria Road, Tottenham, and Woodside House in High Road, Wood Green.
Woodside Day Centre in White Hart Lane, Wood Green, which supports 45 vulnerable older people, will also close by April 2012.
Pensioners groups say many people rely on day centres as a social lifeline and more than 80 pensioners from the I Can Care group, who use services at Woodside House, mounted a vigorous campaign to save it when it was threatened two years ago.
Raj Doshi, chairman of I Can Care, said: “For them this will mean back to their prisons! Many of these people live alone, they have nobody, this is the only life they have.
“People are going to realise that they’ll lose this forever if they don’t stand up now. I think we will not go down without a fight and embarrassing the council, saying you are hitting the most disadvantaged here.”
Two old folk’s homes have also been earmarked to close by April 2013. They are Broadwater Lodge Older People’s Home in Higham Road, Tottenham, and Red House Residential Care Home in West Green Road, South Tottenham.
Mr Singh, who lives on Broadwater Farm Estate near to Broadwater Lodge, said: “Broadwater Lodge is at the centre of our heart here. Some people have lived there for over a decade. It will have a detrimental impact on their lives. If you’re saying they have to leave, where will they go?”
Care for people with physical disability and sensory impairments will also cease in the east of the borough as two more day centres providing specialist care are closed.
The Haven Day Centre in Waltheof Gardens, Tottenham, will be shut down, and The Grange Day Centre in White Hart Lane, Tottenham, will be merged with The Haynes Centre in Crouch End, by April 2012.
Haringey Council says the “speed and scale” of Government spending cuts has left little room for manoeuvre in addressing the unprecedented £87 million black hole.
The Government is making Haringey find more than half of the savings - £46 million - in the next year alone and it has been forced to take swift action.
The first wave of closures will be put out for consultation and brought back to the council’s cabinet in January.
Labour councillor Joe Goldberg, cabinet member for finance and sustainability, said: “We have to make some incredibly tough decisions and we have to make them very quickly or they won’t have a great enough impact on next year’s spending.
“Haringey is one of the most deprived boroughs in the country, and yet we are facing some of the harshest cuts as the Government shifts resources to more affluent areas.”