Council Cuts: Eira's Fight Week In Week Out


Council Cuts: Eira's Fight

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As long as I've got breath in my body, I'll keep on fighting.

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Great-grandmother Eira is on a mission to save her local day

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centre. She is not alone. They don't give a hoot about us, closing us

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down, they just don't give a hoot. Tonight, as councils across Wales

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cut services, we follow the story of one village in the valleys. From the

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Christmas cheer, to the harsh reality of cuts. I'm gutted. Totally

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gutted. Local authorities' budgets have gone down. Millions of pounds

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need to be saved. Difficult decisions have to be made. I didn't

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come into politics to be unpopular, neither did any of my colleagues.

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Nice to meet you. I'm Sarah Rochira. The old

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Nice to meet you. I'm Sarah Rochira. Wales. As the cuts byte, older

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people could be the losers. I think older people are beginning to be

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disproportionately hit. -- as the cuts bite.

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# Rhondda fag leisure centre in the Rhondda Valleys. It is Thursday

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afternoon and Eira is enjoying her twice-weekly class -- Rhondda Fach

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Leisure Centre. Eira is 85 years' young. Keeping

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active is part of her philosophy, to make the most of life. Everybody

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loves me. When she's not keeping fit, this is

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where Eira spends most of her time. The Edith May Day Centre in her

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local village, Ynyshir in the Ron da. She's been a regular at the

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centre since it opened in 1992. I sit in the same receive theory time.

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In the same chair and we sit together, have a chat and enjoy

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ourselves like that. I used to take my grandchildren there for a glass

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of milk and they used to have a cream cake and one in the pushchair

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and one walking. And now, of course, she's grown up and she's go the

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children of her own. So you can see how long I've been going there.

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Eira lost her husband Gwyn to cancer in the same year the centre opened.

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It was like it was made for me, do you know what I mean, like it was

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sent from God, you know to help me, you know.

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Her home from home provides a hot subsidised meal and a place where

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she and others over 50 can socialise. But not for much longer.

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The local council, Rhondda Cynon Taf, says this and other centres

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must close to save money. Over three months we filmed Eira and her

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community as they battled to save their services. Missed. Her eyesight

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has been failing and new she sees the world through the fog of macular

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degeneration Cooking for trying, I'd be a bit nervous about that. I

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couldn't see anyway, so closing the centre is going to be really, really

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hard for me anyway, you know. She walks the short journey down to the

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centre every day of the week, except for Sunday when it is closed.

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# I'm singing in the rain # Just singing in the rain... #

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Maybe in a couple of years' time, perhaps I will be too old to trot

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down the road and I'll have to manage with a microwave but at the

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moment I'm fit enough to, even though my eyesight is bad, to trot

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down there, in though my eyesight is bad, to trot

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mind what the weather is like, I get down there, you know. It's not only

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Eira who feels at home in the centre. Another regular is Mairwen.

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She has lived in Ynyshir all her life and hasn't moved from the

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family home. I'm bobby dazzle dazzler there. I don't think myself

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as being old. I know a lot of people and some have asked me and they

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can't believe I'm 86. And that would make me a bit of a beg head then. It

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keeps us close together. It keeps us in touch with one another, otherwise

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I wouldn't see any of them. Rhondda Cynon Taf Council wants to

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close the day centre as part of its wider plan to save ?70 million over

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the next four years. Out of the 19 day centres within the local

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authority, 10 will close saving nearly ?600,000 a year.

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Councillor makal Forey is a Cabinet member and the authority's Older

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People's Champion. I didn't come into politics to be unpopular.

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Neither did any of my colleagues, but this is the harsh reality of a

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sharp reduction in funding provided by the Westminster Government to the

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Welsh Government which, in turn, has had no alternative but to reduce its

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finding to local authorities. So, it is now going to impact severely on

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local authorities in a is now going to impact severely on

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have never experienced in the past. . We have big decisions to make

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about social services and where to spend the money on schools. Why

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should you keep a centre like that opened. We have a cooked me every

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day, which we wouldn't have every day. I Standfest to cook now. I'm

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afraid it use the saucepan when you have to make the gravy. I'm afraid I

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wouldn't have a cooked meal every day, like I have now. The council

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says, on average, 20 meals are eaten each day at the centre. Mairwen and

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the others pay ?2. 90 per meal but the actual cost to the local

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authority is ?13. 50. No cuts for kids. And it's not only

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day centres that are Is faing cuts. Changes to nursery education led to

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this demonstration. Changes to nursery education led to

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facilities and libraries could also close. In October, the Council

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Leader referred to the need for cuts as an "Armageddon scenario." The

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reality is the council literally have to lack at every area of

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expenditure it is confronted with and we have to find the savings and

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find them quickly. Hello, how are you gentlemen, nice it meet you.

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Allan and Graham are also regulars at the centre. The first time I went

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there, after my wife died, I thought - I'll make an effort. I went and I

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saw Graham. So you are buddies. I've known Graham for years,

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saw Graham. So you are buddies. I've years. When I lost my wife. Three or

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four months I stayed in the house and I was eating out of a tin. My

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next door neighbour kept nagging me to come down here and from that day

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to this, I haven't looked back. It's all about money in the end, I

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suppose, for them, but it is a bit more than that to us, like. It's a

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way of life for us. It's December, 13th and Eira is preparing for a big

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day. I've been doing this for many, many years now, dressing up for our

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annual Christmas dinner. I've got my little hat, with my pigtails. That's

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it. Quite effective, you know, when it's on and, of course, my belt to

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it. Quite effective, you know, when show off my lovely slim waist.

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LAUGHTER She is's in the festive spirit but

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the day centre's uncertain future is on her mind. I was quite upset last

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week to think maybe this is the last time that we will be here for

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Christmas, you know, holding the serve yets and cutting the paper for

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the table and things like that. It was quite depressing actually. I had

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tears in my eyes. We wanted to film the festivities inside the day

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centre but the council refused, saying that a possible larger

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attendance wouldn't reflect what happens on a daily basis.

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But Eira is determined to show us her costume.

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I suppose I'm a bit loop loopy loo really, I suppose but people enjoy

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seeing me and it gives them pleasure and it gives me pleasure. I haven't

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stopped since I've been in there. Laying all the tables, there's so

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much to put on the tables. I haven't stopped. Bye-bye.

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We need to get together and we need to decide what we are going to do

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from now on. If they do close it they really need to hang their heads

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in shame, they do. That's how strongly I feel. By mid-December

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Eira and the others in the local action group are discussing the next

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steps in their campaign. I will carry on the fight, if I have a

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crawl on my hands and knees I'll carry on the fight. The community

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has another reason to fight. Their local library is also due to close

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in April. Lynette Oliver is a member of the Action Group. We were shocked

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when the council first said about the cutbacks, which we can

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understand with the money they've got to save. But we just couldn't

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understand why they were closing the two only things we have in Ynyshir,

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the library and the day centre. The cuts at Ynyshir are far from

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unique. Across Wales, 26 libraries could close this April. It's used by

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the elderly, youngsters and by my age group. They meet there for a

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coffee morning. The two women that work there, you know what I mean,

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they're part of our community. You know, the library is really

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well-used. It's going. Looking her best for the daily visit

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to the day centre is important for Mairwen. I think the council ought

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to be ashamed of themselves. I've go the nowhere to G I get up in the

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morning, where am I going to go? It keeps me alive. Got something to

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live for. I'd think I'd be terrible. We'd you will be finished. I would.

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I think older people are beginning to be disproportionately hit by the

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cuts because they are the big users of these services. Sarah Rochira is

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the Old her People's Commissioner for Wales. She has been speaking to

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local authorities about their budget plans -- older People's

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Commissioner. I have concerns that in the rourningsd cumulative impact

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of all the changes taking place will push older people into a position of

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greater frailty and dependence and vulnerability than they need to be

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and it is the cumulative impact of these changes that are taking place.

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Eira's daily visit to the centre helps to keep her mind and body

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active. Well, you are one of the oldest at the centre but I bet one

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of the fittest as well, aren't you? I presume I am, really. Well, coming

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up and down here every day. That's no bad thing. Good exercise.

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Exactly. Her daily routine means she's a familiar face on the high

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street. This is the baker shop. This has opened recently. That's nice,

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isn't it? Nice to have a bakers. All home made. Morning. All right. This

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is Tim. Meet Tim from the BBC, excuse me, right! Oh, somebody else

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knows you. Eira's appreciation of her local

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services is echoed by older people across Wales, according to Sarah

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Rochira. She launched a report today making the case for community

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services They have all spoken extensively to me about the

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importance of community services. Not just day centres but buses,

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libraries, park benches, public conveniences, leisure centres and

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what they've said to me is very telling, they've said - these are

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not softer issues, these are the services that are keeping us well.

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So, what's the overall picture for Wales? Well, services are being cut

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across the country. 13 leisure facilities could close, six councils

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are planning to reduce funding for bus routes and more than one-third

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are considering turning off or dimming street lights at night. The

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Welsh Local Government Association warns that more than 10,000 jobs

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could go in the next four years. The bottom line s when ?600 million is

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being taken out of local government in the next three years, something

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is going to have to go. Steve Thomas is the Chief Executive. He says that

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councils are facing the biggest cuts in their history.

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Services are getting hilt for everybody, not just older people.

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Unfortunately, we are in the position where we've got to try and

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protect as many of the services as we can, so education is totally

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protected. Social services, in effect, protects itself, through all

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the demographic pressures. So, in particular, the Brunt of the cuts

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are falling on a range of services, which in many respects, the public

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value more than other services. One of the council's facing the biggest

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cuts in funding is Powys. Last month it started to consult on plans to

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save ?40 million. Hello Mrs Wood. You've got a treat today. You've got

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chicken and blackcurrent tart. Oh, that's super.

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Meals on wheels are splendid. The council Cabinet wants to stop

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funding the meals on wheels service, saving ?80,000. Mary is 88 and lives

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in Crickhowell. It's beautiful. Really delicious and it is hot, too.

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I'm very grateful to the people who bring it. It is a similar story

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across Wales. Almost half of councils are either considering

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increasing the price of meals on wheels or ending the service

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completely. Mary also visits her local day centre. But, its future is

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also in doubt along with six others in Powys. Well, I think it would be

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a very lonely existence without a little bit of social contact. I

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should feel like backing up and going to live in St Albans with my

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daughter. Powys is Faying one of its toughest-ever budgets. The full

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council met today but failed to approve cuts. It'll meet again next

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week and until then, the future of meals on wheels and day centres hang

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in the balance. Ceredigion and another council facing one of the

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biggest cuts. London House in Aberaeron is home to

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a lunch club and is the base of Age Cymru in Ceredigion. Social services

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is refer pensioners here and provide a bus that takes them from their

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homes, to the centre. You poser, you. Age Cymru, funded by the local

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authority, offers a subsidised meal, three times a week. Thank you. Oops.

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But Ceredigion Council wants to sell the building, to the dismay of the

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pensioners who value the health benefits the service brings. The

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plate is very hot. Ivy is 98 years old and lives outside Aberaeron. If

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I didn't come here, I wouldn't see anyone from one weekend to another

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and I would just be waiting for the end. That's what it means to me. You

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would feel very, um - well, thor word is disabled, which I am but you

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would feel it. You would feel that, oh, the world's forgotten me and I'm

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no good any more. Ceredigion Council says it'll

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"reassess the needs of those using London house and for those who

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require support, their needs will be met appropriately." We should have

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put our tiaras on. 83-year-old Myrddin Evans has been using the

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service here for nine years. It keeps you cheerful for one thing.

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Company. Somewhere to go. Meet people. I live on my own. Days go

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and I never see anybody and this place provides the answer. Two years

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ago, a survey found that older men in Wales are the loneliest group of

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people in the UK according to new analysis released today, 41% of

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people in Wales aged 65 and over are always lonely, one-quarter feel

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lonely at least sometimes. That's 146,000 people So what we have got

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here is a can composite number of people in Wales who feel very lone

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lonely. Iwan Thomas is the charity's Chief Executive. There is a lot of

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short-termism going be at the moment with local authority cuts because

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taking out the day centres, taking out the bus routes and

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taking out the day centres, taking libraries will just mean the older

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people within the communities will end up accessing and needing to

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access other services. You will see a greater pressure on primary care

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such as GP services and also on the secondary care services, such as

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hospitals and social work services. What I think we will start it see,

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as well, in Wales s a growing isolation. We'll probably see things

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like the mortality rates go up, certainly the affect on people's

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mental health as well. The head of the Welsh Local Government

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Association says the fact is that cuts are unavoidable and they will

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hurt. The scale of cuts is such that the budgets of local authorities are

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declining, and that means that, as those budgets decline, the scale of

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services that they provide decline. That is a horrible fact of life. Is

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it wise to cut today in the short-term only to have to spend

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more tomorrow and the day after? What are the alternatives if the

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money is not there to keep the services open. What are the

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alternatives people keep saying we have to invest in services and

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invest to save them. If you haven't got the money to invest, you can't

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invest to save, you have to cut them back.

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It gets dark early now. That's what I don't like when you've got to pull

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the blinds. Then you are on your own. What do you have for company?

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Only the he there vision. I'd be lost without the television. I know

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they've got to choose which ones they've got to keep open, I know

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that but keep this one open, ours. This is our centre. You'll start me

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crying. I would be lost. I get frighten frightened sometimes. What

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if I'm going to die, I'll be on my own.

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Rhondda Cynon Taf Council says that even after the closure of the

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Ynyshir day centre, there will be alternatives. We have to remember

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that the nearest day centre is in Porth which is 1. 6 miles away and

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there is a bus service that runs fairly regularly through. There

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maybe the possibility of the users of the Ynyshir day centre travelling

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down to Porth, a very short distance away and utilising the services

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there. But Mairwen says that's no good for her, she has trouble with

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her mobility. I wouldn't go down there every day to Portht would get

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too much. I know it doesn't cost me anything on the bus, but still, it

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would wear you out. And Eira worries about her eyesight. I can't see your

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face at all now, it is just blurred, you know. So, to have a familiar

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routine and go to a familiar place is important. Of course, it is. I

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mean if I've got to move to Porth I have to catch a bus and wait for a

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bus and wait for a bus to come back. If the weather is bad, it is not

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going to be very pleasant, is it? To you and I it is 1. 6 miles away to.

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Them and to some of them it isn't feasible to do that every

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Them and to some of them it isn't because there are issues of

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immobility. And it isn't their community centre. Then we look at

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the question of the use. Community transport service, provided by

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travel or whether there are any community groups out there who maybe

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prepared to provide a local service to support the people of Ynyshir who

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attended this day centre. So can charities help? They have come to

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talk to us, if they had, we might have had a constructive dialogue

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perhaps about service provision and in the future, so that vital

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service, day centres for older people don't diminish. We need it

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sit around the table with the local authority as partners, and not just

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within Rhondda Cynon Taf but all local authorities across Wales. We

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can't have a situation where our older people in our communities go

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into decline. It's early January and crunch time

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for Eira, Lynette and other members of the Action Group. They are on

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their way to the Cabinet meeting where the final decision about the

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future of the day centre will be made. How am I going to man snadge

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Cook for yourself and things like that. I can't, can I? I can't cook

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forself. That's what I mean, you will have a hot meal down there. I

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have been going there for 20 years. But after two hours, their day

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centre's fate is sealed. That's it. We tried our best. Absolute rubbish.

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Rubbish, rubbish. They want to hang their heads in shame, every single

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one of them. I'm gutted. Absolutely gutted. It's time likes this that

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they want to come and see what they are doing to these people. These are

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the real people. Back at the centre, Graham and the others are unhappy

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that Councillor Forey hasn't been to see them. He never had the balls to

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turn up. We are absolutely disgusted with it. He wouldn't come here and

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face the music. They've all jumped ship, they have I'm afraid. All

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jumped ship. They don't give a hoot about us, closing us down, they

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jumped ship. They don't give a hoot don't give a hoot. You haven't been

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to the Ynyshir day centre to talk to these old people yourself, and a

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number of them have said - why not? No, I think what I've done is

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maintained a detached perspective because if I'd gone along to Ynyshir

0:25:310:25:35

day centre, to discuss this issue before implementation, should I then

0:25:360:25:38

have gone to all 19 of the day centres? You could use the same

0:25:390:25:43

argument about any potential closure of libraries, should a Cabinet

0:25:440:25:47

member have gone to look at all the 26 libraries in the Rhondda Cynon

0:25:480:25:50

Taf and the logistics of this become very difficult, really. But one

0:25:510:25:59

person to does visit is the the olteder People's Commissioner. We've

0:26:000:26:03

made a lot of friends and it gets you out in the morning, otherwise I

0:26:040:26:06

wouldn't come out in the morning, I'd just get up and sit about.

0:26:070:26:10

You've said what many people have shared me as I have been across

0:26:110:26:15

Wales. Services such asdy centres, public libraries, buses, public

0:26:160:26:18

services, they are not softer services, they are the services that

0:26:190:26:22

keep people out and about, keep you independent and maintain your

0:26:230:26:24

health. And this is the real challenge for local authorities and

0:26:250:26:27

they are difficult decisions but they have to find different ways to

0:26:280:26:32

provide these services. It's going to happen. I haven't really taken it

0:26:330:26:38

in, you know, in a couple of weeks' time, I don't know, I will break my

0:26:390:26:52

heart about it. Tomorrow, Rhondda Cynon Taf's full council will vote

0:26:530:26:57

on the final budget. If it's agreed, the Ynyshir day

0:26:580:26:59

on the final budget. If it's agreed, its doors in April. Even so, the

0:27:000:27:04

council will still have more day centres than most in Wales. In

0:27:050:27:09

providing those nine day centres, in continuing to provide 12 libraries

0:27:100:27:12

in Rhondda Cynon Taf, in continuing to provide a meals on wheels service

0:27:130:27:16

that is second to none within Wales, and in many other ways, in terms of

0:27:170:27:20

support through intergenerational strategies, we will be complying

0:27:210:27:25

with our statutory requirements. Across Wales, councils are grappling

0:27:260:27:29

with cuts. Ten have set their budget. The remaining 12 will do so

0:27:300:27:37

in the coming week. The question that's facing all of them is how are

0:27:380:27:41

they going to maintain their services in future? No local

0:27:420:27:44

authority in Wales should be just cutting services. Of course they are

0:27:450:27:49

difficult issues but do you know what, we can't afford not to

0:27:500:27:52

difficult issues but do you know those issues. We can't afford not to

0:27:530:27:56

find different ways of keeping people out and about, engaged with

0:27:570:28:00

others, eating properly. Because sooner or later, that cost will need

0:28:010:28:05

to be borne and of course, if we get it wrong in the way we change

0:28:060:28:10

services now there will be a higher price to pay later on. Not just for

0:28:110:28:14

our public services but more importantly, for our individuals.

0:28:150:28:20

Eira and the others eventually did get a visit from Councillor Forey

0:28:210:28:25

and another Cabinet member. According to the Council, they spent

0:28:260:28:30

over an hour, having a very amicable and constructive chat with service

0:28:310:28:33

users, offering assistance and support. But as the day she dreads

0:28:340:28:44

draws closer, reality of life without the day centre is one that

0:28:450:28:49

Eira contemplates more and more. When it happens, well, that's it.

0:28:500:28:54

There is nothing we can do. I've tried my best as well, like other

0:28:550:28:59

people have. But there's cuts to be done and they've got to save money,

0:29:000:29:04

bla, bla, bla and that's how it is, isn't it. So, I've just got to

0:29:050:29:09

accept it, you know, put a brave face on and carry on as best I can.

0:29:100:29:29

Week In and Week Out is back at the same time next Tuesday

0:29:300:29:30

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