Browse content similar to Council Cuts: Eira's Fight. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
As long as I've got breath in my body, I'll keep on fighting. | 0:00:00 | 0:00:07 | |
Great-grandmother Eira is on a mission to save her local day | 0:00:08 | 0:00:12 | |
centre. She is not alone. They don't give a hoot about us, closing us | 0:00:13 | 0:00:17 | |
down, they just don't give a hoot. Tonight, as councils across Wales | 0:00:18 | 0:00:22 | |
cut services, we follow the story of one village in the valleys. From the | 0:00:23 | 0:00:26 | |
Christmas cheer, to the harsh reality of cuts. I'm gutted. Totally | 0:00:27 | 0:00:33 | |
gutted. Local authorities' budgets have gone down. Millions of pounds | 0:00:34 | 0:00:37 | |
need to be saved. Difficult decisions have to be made. I didn't | 0:00:38 | 0:00:42 | |
come into politics to be unpopular, neither did any of my colleagues. | 0:00:43 | 0:00:51 | |
Nice to meet you. I'm Sarah Rochira. The old | 0:00:52 | 0:00:55 | |
Nice to meet you. I'm Sarah Rochira. Wales. As the cuts byte, older | 0:00:56 | 0:01:01 | |
people could be the losers. I think older people are beginning to be | 0:01:02 | 0:01:06 | |
disproportionately hit. -- as the cuts bite. | 0:01:07 | 0:01:28 | |
# Rhondda fag leisure centre in the Rhondda Valleys. It is Thursday | 0:01:29 | 0:01:39 | |
afternoon and Eira is enjoying her twice-weekly class -- Rhondda Fach | 0:01:40 | 0:01:43 | |
Leisure Centre. Eira is 85 years' young. Keeping | 0:01:44 | 0:01:48 | |
active is part of her philosophy, to make the most of life. Everybody | 0:01:49 | 0:01:52 | |
loves me. When she's not keeping fit, this is | 0:01:53 | 0:02:15 | |
where Eira spends most of her time. The Edith May Day Centre in her | 0:02:16 | 0:02:18 | |
local village, Ynyshir in the Ron da. She's been a regular at the | 0:02:19 | 0:02:23 | |
centre since it opened in 1992. I sit in the same receive theory time. | 0:02:24 | 0:02:27 | |
In the same chair and we sit together, have a chat and enjoy | 0:02:28 | 0:02:36 | |
ourselves like that. I used to take my grandchildren there for a glass | 0:02:37 | 0:02:39 | |
of milk and they used to have a cream cake and one in the pushchair | 0:02:40 | 0:02:43 | |
and one walking. And now, of course, she's grown up and she's go the | 0:02:44 | 0:02:47 | |
children of her own. So you can see how long I've been going there. | 0:02:48 | 0:02:53 | |
Eira lost her husband Gwyn to cancer in the same year the centre opened. | 0:02:54 | 0:02:56 | |
It was like it was made for me, do you know what I mean, like it was | 0:02:57 | 0:03:00 | |
sent from God, you know to help me, you know. | 0:03:01 | 0:03:05 | |
Her home from home provides a hot subsidised meal and a place where | 0:03:06 | 0:03:10 | |
she and others over 50 can socialise. But not for much longer. | 0:03:11 | 0:03:15 | |
The local council, Rhondda Cynon Taf, says this and other centres | 0:03:16 | 0:03:18 | |
must close to save money. Over three months we filmed Eira and her | 0:03:19 | 0:03:23 | |
community as they battled to save their services. Missed. Her eyesight | 0:03:24 | 0:03:35 | |
has been failing and new she sees the world through the fog of macular | 0:03:36 | 0:03:48 | |
degeneration Cooking for trying, I'd be a bit nervous about that. I | 0:03:49 | 0:03:51 | |
couldn't see anyway, so closing the centre is going to be really, really | 0:03:52 | 0:03:55 | |
hard for me anyway, you know. She walks the short journey down to the | 0:03:56 | 0:04:00 | |
centre every day of the week, except for Sunday when it is closed. | 0:04:01 | 0:04:07 | |
# I'm singing in the rain # Just singing in the rain... # | 0:04:08 | 0:04:11 | |
Maybe in a couple of years' time, perhaps I will be too old to trot | 0:04:12 | 0:04:15 | |
down the road and I'll have to manage with a microwave but at the | 0:04:16 | 0:04:18 | |
moment I'm fit enough to, even though my eyesight is bad, to trot | 0:04:19 | 0:04:20 | |
down there, in though my eyesight is bad, to trot | 0:04:21 | 0:04:24 | |
mind what the weather is like, I get down there, you know. It's not only | 0:04:25 | 0:04:33 | |
Eira who feels at home in the centre. Another regular is Mairwen. | 0:04:34 | 0:04:38 | |
She has lived in Ynyshir all her life and hasn't moved from the | 0:04:39 | 0:04:44 | |
family home. I'm bobby dazzle dazzler there. I don't think myself | 0:04:45 | 0:04:51 | |
as being old. I know a lot of people and some have asked me and they | 0:04:52 | 0:04:58 | |
can't believe I'm 86. And that would make me a bit of a beg head then. It | 0:04:59 | 0:05:05 | |
keeps us close together. It keeps us in touch with one another, otherwise | 0:05:06 | 0:05:07 | |
I wouldn't see any of them. Rhondda Cynon Taf Council wants to | 0:05:08 | 0:05:25 | |
close the day centre as part of its wider plan to save ?70 million over | 0:05:26 | 0:05:30 | |
the next four years. Out of the 19 day centres within the local | 0:05:31 | 0:05:35 | |
authority, 10 will close saving nearly ?600,000 a year. | 0:05:36 | 0:05:41 | |
Councillor makal Forey is a Cabinet member and the authority's Older | 0:05:42 | 0:05:46 | |
People's Champion. I didn't come into politics to be unpopular. | 0:05:47 | 0:05:49 | |
Neither did any of my colleagues, but this is the harsh reality of a | 0:05:50 | 0:05:53 | |
sharp reduction in funding provided by the Westminster Government to the | 0:05:54 | 0:05:57 | |
Welsh Government which, in turn, has had no alternative but to reduce its | 0:05:58 | 0:06:01 | |
finding to local authorities. So, it is now going to impact severely on | 0:06:02 | 0:06:04 | |
local authorities in a is now going to impact severely on | 0:06:05 | 0:06:11 | |
have never experienced in the past. . We have big decisions to make | 0:06:12 | 0:06:15 | |
about social services and where to spend the money on schools. Why | 0:06:16 | 0:06:19 | |
should you keep a centre like that opened. We have a cooked me every | 0:06:20 | 0:06:23 | |
day, which we wouldn't have every day. I Standfest to cook now. I'm | 0:06:24 | 0:06:29 | |
afraid it use the saucepan when you have to make the gravy. I'm afraid I | 0:06:30 | 0:06:33 | |
wouldn't have a cooked meal every day, like I have now. The council | 0:06:34 | 0:06:37 | |
says, on average, 20 meals are eaten each day at the centre. Mairwen and | 0:06:38 | 0:06:43 | |
the others pay ?2. 90 per meal but the actual cost to the local | 0:06:44 | 0:06:49 | |
authority is ?13. 50. No cuts for kids. And it's not only | 0:06:50 | 0:06:53 | |
day centres that are Is faing cuts. Changes to nursery education led to | 0:06:54 | 0:06:56 | |
this demonstration. Changes to nursery education led to | 0:06:57 | 0:07:00 | |
facilities and libraries could also close. In October, the Council | 0:07:01 | 0:07:05 | |
Leader referred to the need for cuts as an "Armageddon scenario." The | 0:07:06 | 0:07:11 | |
reality is the council literally have to lack at every area of | 0:07:12 | 0:07:15 | |
expenditure it is confronted with and we have to find the savings and | 0:07:16 | 0:07:28 | |
find them quickly. Hello, how are you gentlemen, nice it meet you. | 0:07:29 | 0:07:32 | |
Allan and Graham are also regulars at the centre. The first time I went | 0:07:33 | 0:07:37 | |
there, after my wife died, I thought - I'll make an effort. I went and I | 0:07:38 | 0:07:46 | |
saw Graham. So you are buddies. I've known Graham for years, | 0:07:47 | 0:07:50 | |
saw Graham. So you are buddies. I've years. When I lost my wife. Three or | 0:07:51 | 0:07:53 | |
four months I stayed in the house and I was eating out of a tin. My | 0:07:54 | 0:07:57 | |
next door neighbour kept nagging me to come down here and from that day | 0:07:58 | 0:08:01 | |
to this, I haven't looked back. It's all about money in the end, I | 0:08:02 | 0:08:04 | |
suppose, for them, but it is a bit more than that to us, like. It's a | 0:08:05 | 0:08:19 | |
way of life for us. It's December, 13th and Eira is preparing for a big | 0:08:20 | 0:08:24 | |
day. I've been doing this for many, many years now, dressing up for our | 0:08:25 | 0:08:31 | |
annual Christmas dinner. I've got my little hat, with my pigtails. That's | 0:08:32 | 0:08:38 | |
it. Quite effective, you know, when it's on and, of course, my belt to | 0:08:39 | 0:08:43 | |
it. Quite effective, you know, when show off my lovely slim waist. | 0:08:44 | 0:08:47 | |
LAUGHTER She is's in the festive spirit but | 0:08:48 | 0:08:51 | |
the day centre's uncertain future is on her mind. I was quite upset last | 0:08:52 | 0:08:56 | |
week to think maybe this is the last time that we will be here for | 0:08:57 | 0:09:00 | |
Christmas, you know, holding the serve yets and cutting the paper for | 0:09:01 | 0:09:05 | |
the table and things like that. It was quite depressing actually. I had | 0:09:06 | 0:09:16 | |
tears in my eyes. We wanted to film the festivities inside the day | 0:09:17 | 0:09:19 | |
centre but the council refused, saying that a possible larger | 0:09:20 | 0:09:22 | |
attendance wouldn't reflect what happens on a daily basis. | 0:09:23 | 0:09:30 | |
But Eira is determined to show us her costume. | 0:09:31 | 0:09:36 | |
I suppose I'm a bit loop loopy loo really, I suppose but people enjoy | 0:09:37 | 0:09:40 | |
seeing me and it gives them pleasure and it gives me pleasure. I haven't | 0:09:41 | 0:09:45 | |
stopped since I've been in there. Laying all the tables, there's so | 0:09:46 | 0:09:49 | |
much to put on the tables. I haven't stopped. Bye-bye. | 0:09:50 | 0:10:01 | |
We need to get together and we need to decide what we are going to do | 0:10:02 | 0:10:06 | |
from now on. If they do close it they really need to hang their heads | 0:10:07 | 0:10:10 | |
in shame, they do. That's how strongly I feel. By mid-December | 0:10:11 | 0:10:15 | |
Eira and the others in the local action group are discussing the next | 0:10:16 | 0:10:18 | |
steps in their campaign. I will carry on the fight, if I have a | 0:10:19 | 0:10:22 | |
crawl on my hands and knees I'll carry on the fight. The community | 0:10:23 | 0:10:25 | |
has another reason to fight. Their local library is also due to close | 0:10:26 | 0:10:29 | |
in April. Lynette Oliver is a member of the Action Group. We were shocked | 0:10:30 | 0:10:34 | |
when the council first said about the cutbacks, which we can | 0:10:35 | 0:10:37 | |
understand with the money they've got to save. But we just couldn't | 0:10:38 | 0:10:41 | |
understand why they were closing the two only things we have in Ynyshir, | 0:10:42 | 0:10:47 | |
the library and the day centre. The cuts at Ynyshir are far from | 0:10:48 | 0:10:52 | |
unique. Across Wales, 26 libraries could close this April. It's used by | 0:10:53 | 0:10:59 | |
the elderly, youngsters and by my age group. They meet there for a | 0:11:00 | 0:11:02 | |
coffee morning. The two women that work there, you know what I mean, | 0:11:03 | 0:11:06 | |
they're part of our community. You know, the library is really | 0:11:07 | 0:11:11 | |
well-used. It's going. Looking her best for the daily visit | 0:11:12 | 0:11:16 | |
to the day centre is important for Mairwen. I think the council ought | 0:11:17 | 0:11:20 | |
to be ashamed of themselves. I've go the nowhere to G I get up in the | 0:11:21 | 0:11:24 | |
morning, where am I going to go? It keeps me alive. Got something to | 0:11:25 | 0:11:32 | |
live for. I'd think I'd be terrible. We'd you will be finished. I would. | 0:11:33 | 0:11:43 | |
I think older people are beginning to be disproportionately hit by the | 0:11:44 | 0:11:46 | |
cuts because they are the big users of these services. Sarah Rochira is | 0:11:47 | 0:11:50 | |
the Old her People's Commissioner for Wales. She has been speaking to | 0:11:51 | 0:11:55 | |
local authorities about their budget plans -- older People's | 0:11:56 | 0:11:58 | |
Commissioner. I have concerns that in the rourningsd cumulative impact | 0:11:59 | 0:12:01 | |
of all the changes taking place will push older people into a position of | 0:12:02 | 0:12:05 | |
greater frailty and dependence and vulnerability than they need to be | 0:12:06 | 0:12:08 | |
and it is the cumulative impact of these changes that are taking place. | 0:12:09 | 0:12:18 | |
Eira's daily visit to the centre helps to keep her mind and body | 0:12:19 | 0:12:23 | |
active. Well, you are one of the oldest at the centre but I bet one | 0:12:24 | 0:12:29 | |
of the fittest as well, aren't you? I presume I am, really. Well, coming | 0:12:30 | 0:12:35 | |
up and down here every day. That's no bad thing. Good exercise. | 0:12:36 | 0:12:40 | |
Exactly. Her daily routine means she's a familiar face on the high | 0:12:41 | 0:12:44 | |
street. This is the baker shop. This has opened recently. That's nice, | 0:12:45 | 0:12:49 | |
isn't it? Nice to have a bakers. All home made. Morning. All right. This | 0:12:50 | 0:12:59 | |
is Tim. Meet Tim from the BBC, excuse me, right! Oh, somebody else | 0:13:00 | 0:13:09 | |
knows you. Eira's appreciation of her local | 0:13:10 | 0:13:14 | |
services is echoed by older people across Wales, according to Sarah | 0:13:15 | 0:13:23 | |
Rochira. She launched a report today making the case for community | 0:13:24 | 0:13:27 | |
services They have all spoken extensively to me about the | 0:13:28 | 0:13:29 | |
importance of community services. Not just day centres but buses, | 0:13:30 | 0:13:33 | |
libraries, park benches, public conveniences, leisure centres and | 0:13:34 | 0:13:36 | |
what they've said to me is very telling, they've said - these are | 0:13:37 | 0:13:40 | |
not softer issues, these are the services that are keeping us well. | 0:13:41 | 0:13:46 | |
So, what's the overall picture for Wales? Well, services are being cut | 0:13:47 | 0:13:50 | |
across the country. 13 leisure facilities could close, six councils | 0:13:51 | 0:13:54 | |
are planning to reduce funding for bus routes and more than one-third | 0:13:55 | 0:13:58 | |
are considering turning off or dimming street lights at night. The | 0:13:59 | 0:14:02 | |
Welsh Local Government Association warns that more than 10,000 jobs | 0:14:03 | 0:14:06 | |
could go in the next four years. The bottom line s when ?600 million is | 0:14:07 | 0:14:10 | |
being taken out of local government in the next three years, something | 0:14:11 | 0:14:14 | |
is going to have to go. Steve Thomas is the Chief Executive. He says that | 0:14:15 | 0:14:19 | |
councils are facing the biggest cuts in their history. | 0:14:20 | 0:14:21 | |
Services are getting hilt for everybody, not just older people. | 0:14:22 | 0:14:25 | |
Unfortunately, we are in the position where we've got to try and | 0:14:26 | 0:14:32 | |
protect as many of the services as we can, so education is totally | 0:14:33 | 0:14:35 | |
protected. Social services, in effect, protects itself, through all | 0:14:36 | 0:14:40 | |
the demographic pressures. So, in particular, the Brunt of the cuts | 0:14:41 | 0:14:43 | |
are falling on a range of services, which in many respects, the public | 0:14:44 | 0:14:56 | |
value more than other services. One of the council's facing the biggest | 0:14:57 | 0:15:01 | |
cuts in funding is Powys. Last month it started to consult on plans to | 0:15:02 | 0:15:08 | |
save ?40 million. Hello Mrs Wood. You've got a treat today. You've got | 0:15:09 | 0:15:16 | |
chicken and blackcurrent tart. Oh, that's super. | 0:15:17 | 0:15:21 | |
Meals on wheels are splendid. The council Cabinet wants to stop | 0:15:22 | 0:15:24 | |
funding the meals on wheels service, saving ?80,000. Mary is 88 and lives | 0:15:25 | 0:15:29 | |
in Crickhowell. It's beautiful. Really delicious and it is hot, too. | 0:15:30 | 0:15:39 | |
I'm very grateful to the people who bring it. It is a similar story | 0:15:40 | 0:15:43 | |
across Wales. Almost half of councils are either considering | 0:15:44 | 0:15:46 | |
increasing the price of meals on wheels or ending the service | 0:15:47 | 0:15:50 | |
completely. Mary also visits her local day centre. But, its future is | 0:15:51 | 0:15:56 | |
also in doubt along with six others in Powys. Well, I think it would be | 0:15:57 | 0:16:03 | |
a very lonely existence without a little bit of social contact. I | 0:16:04 | 0:16:10 | |
should feel like backing up and going to live in St Albans with my | 0:16:11 | 0:16:20 | |
daughter. Powys is Faying one of its toughest-ever budgets. The full | 0:16:21 | 0:16:23 | |
council met today but failed to approve cuts. It'll meet again next | 0:16:24 | 0:16:27 | |
week and until then, the future of meals on wheels and day centres hang | 0:16:28 | 0:16:38 | |
in the balance. Ceredigion and another council facing one of the | 0:16:39 | 0:16:42 | |
biggest cuts. London House in Aberaeron is home to | 0:16:43 | 0:16:48 | |
a lunch club and is the base of Age Cymru in Ceredigion. Social services | 0:16:49 | 0:16:53 | |
is refer pensioners here and provide a bus that takes them from their | 0:16:54 | 0:16:57 | |
homes, to the centre. You poser, you. Age Cymru, funded by the local | 0:16:58 | 0:17:02 | |
authority, offers a subsidised meal, three times a week. Thank you. Oops. | 0:17:03 | 0:17:10 | |
But Ceredigion Council wants to sell the building, to the dismay of the | 0:17:11 | 0:17:13 | |
pensioners who value the health benefits the service brings. The | 0:17:14 | 0:17:25 | |
plate is very hot. Ivy is 98 years old and lives outside Aberaeron. If | 0:17:26 | 0:17:31 | |
I didn't come here, I wouldn't see anyone from one weekend to another | 0:17:32 | 0:17:35 | |
and I would just be waiting for the end. That's what it means to me. You | 0:17:36 | 0:17:42 | |
would feel very, um - well, thor word is disabled, which I am but you | 0:17:43 | 0:17:46 | |
would feel it. You would feel that, oh, the world's forgotten me and I'm | 0:17:47 | 0:17:53 | |
no good any more. Ceredigion Council says it'll | 0:17:54 | 0:17:59 | |
"reassess the needs of those using London house and for those who | 0:18:00 | 0:18:03 | |
require support, their needs will be met appropriately." We should have | 0:18:04 | 0:18:11 | |
put our tiaras on. 83-year-old Myrddin Evans has been using the | 0:18:12 | 0:18:17 | |
service here for nine years. It keeps you cheerful for one thing. | 0:18:18 | 0:18:21 | |
Company. Somewhere to go. Meet people. I live on my own. Days go | 0:18:22 | 0:18:25 | |
and I never see anybody and this place provides the answer. Two years | 0:18:26 | 0:18:29 | |
ago, a survey found that older men in Wales are the loneliest group of | 0:18:30 | 0:18:38 | |
people in the UK according to new analysis released today, 41% of | 0:18:39 | 0:18:46 | |
people in Wales aged 65 and over are always lonely, one-quarter feel | 0:18:47 | 0:18:51 | |
lonely at least sometimes. That's 146,000 people So what we have got | 0:18:52 | 0:18:54 | |
here is a can composite number of people in Wales who feel very lone | 0:18:55 | 0:18:59 | |
lonely. Iwan Thomas is the charity's Chief Executive. There is a lot of | 0:19:00 | 0:19:04 | |
short-termism going be at the moment with local authority cuts because | 0:19:05 | 0:19:07 | |
taking out the day centres, taking out the bus routes and | 0:19:08 | 0:19:10 | |
taking out the day centres, taking libraries will just mean the older | 0:19:11 | 0:19:12 | |
people within the communities will end up accessing and needing to | 0:19:13 | 0:19:16 | |
access other services. You will see a greater pressure on primary care | 0:19:17 | 0:19:23 | |
such as GP services and also on the secondary care services, such as | 0:19:24 | 0:19:26 | |
hospitals and social work services. What I think we will start it see, | 0:19:27 | 0:19:30 | |
as well, in Wales s a growing isolation. We'll probably see things | 0:19:31 | 0:19:35 | |
like the mortality rates go up, certainly the affect on people's | 0:19:36 | 0:19:40 | |
mental health as well. The head of the Welsh Local Government | 0:19:41 | 0:19:42 | |
Association says the fact is that cuts are unavoidable and they will | 0:19:43 | 0:19:46 | |
hurt. The scale of cuts is such that the budgets of local authorities are | 0:19:47 | 0:19:51 | |
declining, and that means that, as those budgets decline, the scale of | 0:19:52 | 0:19:54 | |
services that they provide decline. That is a horrible fact of life. Is | 0:19:55 | 0:20:04 | |
it wise to cut today in the short-term only to have to spend | 0:20:05 | 0:20:08 | |
more tomorrow and the day after? What are the alternatives if the | 0:20:09 | 0:20:11 | |
money is not there to keep the services open. What are the | 0:20:12 | 0:20:14 | |
alternatives people keep saying we have to invest in services and | 0:20:15 | 0:20:17 | |
invest to save them. If you haven't got the money to invest, you can't | 0:20:18 | 0:20:22 | |
invest to save, you have to cut them back. | 0:20:23 | 0:20:26 | |
It gets dark early now. That's what I don't like when you've got to pull | 0:20:27 | 0:20:31 | |
the blinds. Then you are on your own. What do you have for company? | 0:20:32 | 0:20:41 | |
Only the he there vision. I'd be lost without the television. I know | 0:20:42 | 0:20:49 | |
they've got to choose which ones they've got to keep open, I know | 0:20:50 | 0:20:53 | |
that but keep this one open, ours. This is our centre. You'll start me | 0:20:54 | 0:21:11 | |
crying. I would be lost. I get frighten frightened sometimes. What | 0:21:12 | 0:21:18 | |
if I'm going to die, I'll be on my own. | 0:21:19 | 0:21:22 | |
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council says that even after the closure of the | 0:21:23 | 0:21:25 | |
Ynyshir day centre, there will be alternatives. We have to remember | 0:21:26 | 0:21:37 | |
that the nearest day centre is in Porth which is 1. 6 miles away and | 0:21:38 | 0:21:40 | |
there is a bus service that runs fairly regularly through. There | 0:21:41 | 0:21:44 | |
maybe the possibility of the users of the Ynyshir day centre travelling | 0:21:45 | 0:21:49 | |
down to Porth, a very short distance away and utilising the services | 0:21:50 | 0:21:53 | |
there. But Mairwen says that's no good for her, she has trouble with | 0:21:54 | 0:21:56 | |
her mobility. I wouldn't go down there every day to Portht would get | 0:21:57 | 0:22:01 | |
too much. I know it doesn't cost me anything on the bus, but still, it | 0:22:02 | 0:22:06 | |
would wear you out. And Eira worries about her eyesight. I can't see your | 0:22:07 | 0:22:11 | |
face at all now, it is just blurred, you know. So, to have a familiar | 0:22:12 | 0:22:18 | |
routine and go to a familiar place is important. Of course, it is. I | 0:22:19 | 0:22:23 | |
mean if I've got to move to Porth I have to catch a bus and wait for a | 0:22:24 | 0:22:27 | |
bus and wait for a bus to come back. If the weather is bad, it is not | 0:22:28 | 0:22:32 | |
going to be very pleasant, is it? To you and I it is 1. 6 miles away to. | 0:22:33 | 0:22:37 | |
Them and to some of them it isn't feasible to do that every | 0:22:38 | 0:22:39 | |
Them and to some of them it isn't because there are issues of | 0:22:40 | 0:22:45 | |
immobility. And it isn't their community centre. Then we look at | 0:22:46 | 0:22:51 | |
the question of the use. Community transport service, provided by | 0:22:52 | 0:22:53 | |
travel or whether there are any community groups out there who maybe | 0:22:54 | 0:22:57 | |
prepared to provide a local service to support the people of Ynyshir who | 0:22:58 | 0:23:08 | |
attended this day centre. So can charities help? They have come to | 0:23:09 | 0:23:13 | |
talk to us, if they had, we might have had a constructive dialogue | 0:23:14 | 0:23:17 | |
perhaps about service provision and in the future, so that vital | 0:23:18 | 0:23:22 | |
service, day centres for older people don't diminish. We need it | 0:23:23 | 0:23:27 | |
sit around the table with the local authority as partners, and not just | 0:23:28 | 0:23:31 | |
within Rhondda Cynon Taf but all local authorities across Wales. We | 0:23:32 | 0:23:34 | |
can't have a situation where our older people in our communities go | 0:23:35 | 0:23:35 | |
into decline. It's early January and crunch time | 0:23:36 | 0:23:46 | |
for Eira, Lynette and other members of the Action Group. They are on | 0:23:47 | 0:23:49 | |
their way to the Cabinet meeting where the final decision about the | 0:23:50 | 0:23:52 | |
future of the day centre will be made. How am I going to man snadge | 0:23:53 | 0:24:00 | |
Cook for yourself and things like that. I can't, can I? I can't cook | 0:24:01 | 0:24:06 | |
forself. That's what I mean, you will have a hot meal down there. I | 0:24:07 | 0:24:11 | |
have been going there for 20 years. But after two hours, their day | 0:24:12 | 0:24:23 | |
centre's fate is sealed. That's it. We tried our best. Absolute rubbish. | 0:24:24 | 0:24:28 | |
Rubbish, rubbish. They want to hang their heads in shame, every single | 0:24:29 | 0:24:35 | |
one of them. I'm gutted. Absolutely gutted. It's time likes this that | 0:24:36 | 0:24:44 | |
they want to come and see what they are doing to these people. These are | 0:24:45 | 0:24:54 | |
the real people. Back at the centre, Graham and the others are unhappy | 0:24:55 | 0:24:58 | |
that Councillor Forey hasn't been to see them. He never had the balls to | 0:24:59 | 0:25:03 | |
turn up. We are absolutely disgusted with it. He wouldn't come here and | 0:25:04 | 0:25:08 | |
face the music. They've all jumped ship, they have I'm afraid. All | 0:25:09 | 0:25:13 | |
jumped ship. They don't give a hoot about us, closing us down, they | 0:25:14 | 0:25:17 | |
jumped ship. They don't give a hoot don't give a hoot. You haven't been | 0:25:18 | 0:25:20 | |
to the Ynyshir day centre to talk to these old people yourself, and a | 0:25:21 | 0:25:24 | |
number of them have said - why not? No, I think what I've done is | 0:25:25 | 0:25:30 | |
maintained a detached perspective because if I'd gone along to Ynyshir | 0:25:31 | 0:25:35 | |
day centre, to discuss this issue before implementation, should I then | 0:25:36 | 0:25:38 | |
have gone to all 19 of the day centres? You could use the same | 0:25:39 | 0:25:43 | |
argument about any potential closure of libraries, should a Cabinet | 0:25:44 | 0:25:47 | |
member have gone to look at all the 26 libraries in the Rhondda Cynon | 0:25:48 | 0:25:50 | |
Taf and the logistics of this become very difficult, really. But one | 0:25:51 | 0:25:59 | |
person to does visit is the the olteder People's Commissioner. We've | 0:26:00 | 0:26:03 | |
made a lot of friends and it gets you out in the morning, otherwise I | 0:26:04 | 0:26:06 | |
wouldn't come out in the morning, I'd just get up and sit about. | 0:26:07 | 0:26:10 | |
You've said what many people have shared me as I have been across | 0:26:11 | 0:26:15 | |
Wales. Services such asdy centres, public libraries, buses, public | 0:26:16 | 0:26:18 | |
services, they are not softer services, they are the services that | 0:26:19 | 0:26:22 | |
keep people out and about, keep you independent and maintain your | 0:26:23 | 0:26:24 | |
health. And this is the real challenge for local authorities and | 0:26:25 | 0:26:27 | |
they are difficult decisions but they have to find different ways to | 0:26:28 | 0:26:32 | |
provide these services. It's going to happen. I haven't really taken it | 0:26:33 | 0:26:38 | |
in, you know, in a couple of weeks' time, I don't know, I will break my | 0:26:39 | 0:26:52 | |
heart about it. Tomorrow, Rhondda Cynon Taf's full council will vote | 0:26:53 | 0:26:57 | |
on the final budget. If it's agreed, the Ynyshir day | 0:26:58 | 0:26:59 | |
on the final budget. If it's agreed, its doors in April. Even so, the | 0:27:00 | 0:27:04 | |
council will still have more day centres than most in Wales. In | 0:27:05 | 0:27:09 | |
providing those nine day centres, in continuing to provide 12 libraries | 0:27:10 | 0:27:12 | |
in Rhondda Cynon Taf, in continuing to provide a meals on wheels service | 0:27:13 | 0:27:16 | |
that is second to none within Wales, and in many other ways, in terms of | 0:27:17 | 0:27:20 | |
support through intergenerational strategies, we will be complying | 0:27:21 | 0:27:25 | |
with our statutory requirements. Across Wales, councils are grappling | 0:27:26 | 0:27:29 | |
with cuts. Ten have set their budget. The remaining 12 will do so | 0:27:30 | 0:27:37 | |
in the coming week. The question that's facing all of them is how are | 0:27:38 | 0:27:41 | |
they going to maintain their services in future? No local | 0:27:42 | 0:27:44 | |
authority in Wales should be just cutting services. Of course they are | 0:27:45 | 0:27:49 | |
difficult issues but do you know what, we can't afford not to | 0:27:50 | 0:27:52 | |
difficult issues but do you know those issues. We can't afford not to | 0:27:53 | 0:27:56 | |
find different ways of keeping people out and about, engaged with | 0:27:57 | 0:28:00 | |
others, eating properly. Because sooner or later, that cost will need | 0:28:01 | 0:28:05 | |
to be borne and of course, if we get it wrong in the way we change | 0:28:06 | 0:28:10 | |
services now there will be a higher price to pay later on. Not just for | 0:28:11 | 0:28:14 | |
our public services but more importantly, for our individuals. | 0:28:15 | 0:28:20 | |
Eira and the others eventually did get a visit from Councillor Forey | 0:28:21 | 0:28:25 | |
and another Cabinet member. According to the Council, they spent | 0:28:26 | 0:28:30 | |
over an hour, having a very amicable and constructive chat with service | 0:28:31 | 0:28:33 | |
users, offering assistance and support. But as the day she dreads | 0:28:34 | 0:28:44 | |
draws closer, reality of life without the day centre is one that | 0:28:45 | 0:28:49 | |
Eira contemplates more and more. When it happens, well, that's it. | 0:28:50 | 0:28:54 | |
There is nothing we can do. I've tried my best as well, like other | 0:28:55 | 0:28:59 | |
people have. But there's cuts to be done and they've got to save money, | 0:29:00 | 0:29:04 | |
bla, bla, bla and that's how it is, isn't it. So, I've just got to | 0:29:05 | 0:29:09 | |
accept it, you know, put a brave face on and carry on as best I can. | 0:29:10 | 0:29:29 | |
Week In and Week Out is back at the same time next Tuesday | 0:29:30 | 0:29:30 |