Members vow to save community centre

Members of the community at the emergency meeting

An emergency meeting was held at Wardleworth Community Centre on Sunday (5 December 2010) to protest against the proposed withdrawal of RMBC Core Funding to the Centre.

Young and elderly members of the community centre braved the snow to gather at the community centre to air their views regarding the proposed cut to its funding by the council and the impact it will have on the local community if they centre were to lose all the funding in the coming financial year.

A spokesperson for the community centre, said: “Members vow to keep the fight going until the council review its position to drop the plan to take away the full funding and consider a partial reduction in line with other similar organisation in the borough. One very passionate member stated that the centre has been serving the community for over 25 years, many of the locals were involved with the centre as volunteers, users, etc. it would not be acceptable if the centre were to close down. It is part of our areas history; it represents the struggles and joy of the local community.

“All members attending unanimously agreed that the centre is the hub of the community and will not let it go without a fight.”

The committee have started to gather signatures from the local community on a petition which will be forwarded to the Council. Centre Chair Hellal Choudhury and Vice Chair Shaukat Ali spoke about the cuts and how it will have a serious impact on the local community if the funding were completely removed. They have highlighted that the centre had made substantial improvement in delivering front line services to the local community in the last 2 years and providing a value for money services to the local community.

Councillor Farooq Ahmed also said a few words about the cuts and that they were essential. He also pledged his support for the centre. He also briefly spoke of how he used the centre, attended as a youngster himself and organised youth groups.

Wardleworth Community Centre currently accommodates Adult Care Services Monday to Friday which occupies the small hall. There are many essential services for the local community running every week which are well attended such as: sewing classes, belly dancing, IT drop in sessions and guitar lessons.

Stephanie Thornton, Community Affairs Manager at Rochdale Borough Council said: “As part of the second phase of council savings we are currently asking for feedback on a wide range of proposals, which include considering removing grant funding that is currently allocated to the Wardleworth Community Centre. No decision will be taken until February 2011.

“Whilst we know that community centres are beneficial to their local community, given the scale of the financial challenge we're facing, regrettably we won't be able to continue to deliver everything.

“We are encouraging everyone to have their say at www.rochdale.gov.uk/yourviews or in person at your local library or council customer service centre."