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Pensioners in a Bathgate retirement complex will find out tomorrow if a community cafe can be saved for residents.
West Lothian’s Integration Joint Board is expected to make a final decision on whether to close the facility in Rosemount Gardens to save £150,000 in staff costs to meet budget cuts.
The campaign hopes that powerful backing from a national charity, Age Scotland, will change minds. Campaigners met with councillors and senior Health and Social Care staff for an 11th hour discussion on Monday.
Those fighting to save the cafe maintain that there has been no proper consultation with residents and accuse the IJB of refusing to meet with campaigners and address questions on costs and service charges levied at those who live in the complex.
Options for potential future use of the cafe space by local groups such as the West Lothian 50Plus network, and others were introduced at Monday’s meeting.
A local councillor, Willie Boyle, who has supported the retention of the cafe, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the meeting had been “tense” and campaigners still felt they had not been given adequate answers as to why the cafe was considered among a range of savings proposed by the IJB.
Critics question potential savings as the staff would be moved to other facilities, but the council has pointed to saving made in not having to hire staff to fill gaps.
Councillor Boyle said there were “hopeful signs” that some kind community use could be developed if the decision is taken to close the cafe.
He added that campaigners intend to continue their campaign taking it further with the council and NHS Lothian should the decision go against them.
A spokesperson for Age Scotland told the LDRS: “Even at this eleventh hour we hold out hope that the Rosemount café, which is such a vital and much-loved resource for older people, can be saved.
“When Rosemount Gardens opened a decade ago it was lauded as a world leading place for older people who need some more support and care to live as independently as they can. Losing the café really changes this.
“The strength of feeling among residents and others who use the café must surely show those proposing these budget cuts that axing such an important service – a lifeline to many who live there – is an extremely shortsighted and ill-considered move.
“It has been hard to see any willingness from the decision makers to constructively engage with residents on this and really understand the impact this plan will have on their lives. Their own impact assessment highlights the severe risks for residents, but the mitigations they propose are about as thin as they come.
“Just last week we were highlighting the hugely damaging impact that loneliness can have on older people. Rosemount café is exactly the sort of place that allows older people to connect with others, forge friendships and draws people together, reducing isolation and loneliness. Why on earth would you shut an important facility like that, knowing the consequences could be devastating for those affected?
“There is still time for the Board to change their mind. Pausing the closure and setting up a process to make it work would be the right outcome. Saving Rosemount café would be a clear sign that older people in the community are valued and that decision makers have listened to campaigners calling for the café to be kept open for the good of the community.”
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