A group of elderly people has protested outside the town hall against withdrawal of funding to their day centres.

Members of the Lambeth Older People’s Alliance staged the protest on Friday, July 1, where they handed in a petition to leader of Lambeth Council Councillor Steve Reed, demanding “reinstatement of funding to their community run older people day centres”.

In February Lambeth Council took the decision not to continue funding to eight older people’s day centres. Six of these day centres provide specific and holistic services to Chinese, Vietnamese, Asian, Latin American and Black African/Caribbean older people; the two others are generic. There are fears that a decision on this scale will have impact on older people’s health and wellbeing in the borough.

The Alliance claimed the decisions were short sighted and that losing the support offered by these community day centres will accelerate the process of older people becoming most vulnerable and in the long term, cost the council more to care for them.

Ellen Lebethe from Lambeth Pensioners’ Action Group said: “Lambeth Council is going back on their commitment to enable older people to have a full and active life during which they are healthy, independent, involved in their communities and treated with dignity and respect”.

Councillor Jane Pickard, deputy Cabinet Member for Older People: “The council has defended front line services for older people as best it can – maintaining meals on wheels, eligibility for care and lunch clubs - but there’s a major battle for more resources in the sector that needs to be fought with the government and we support Lambeth residents in that fight.

“The eight neighbourhood day centres which lost funding are run by voluntary groups which the council has supported for many years. It has provided some transitional funding to help tide them over this difficult time and is keen to continue working with them to find alternative sources of funding.

“We do not want to see them close but could not continue to afford the average cost per centre of just over £30,000. We want to help them resolve these problems so they can carry on providing activities and advice for older people.”