Dublin People - Vital service faces closure

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Vital service faces closure

Thursday, 03 July 2008

A VITAL Northside centre for the elderly is in the danger of closing down due to a lack of funding, Northside People has learned.
The Sancta Maria Day Centre has provided care and meals-on-wheels for hundreds of elderly in Cabra West for over 35 years.
However, according to centre chairperson Anne Grogan, the service is crippled by debt and may have to close unless they can secure funding.
“The HSE have given us a minimal increase in the grant we get over the last four years, despite the level of inflation the country has experienced,” she told Northside People.
“The running costs and bills for the centre have skyrocketed, yet we are still expected to manage with very little funding.”
She added: “Each year we have a shortfall of around e10,000. The HSE recently told us that they would give us the same grant as we received four years ago – that’s crazy.”

The centre provides meals for more than 125 local people per day.
The facility also transports up to 50 elderly people from their homes to the centre each day where they enjoy a whole range of activities including art, dancing, bowls and bingo.
“A lot of nurses and doctors recommend the centre to their patients who are elderly, widowed and even those who have suffered strokes and have Alzheimer’s,” Ms Grogan explained.
“It’s a vital service, one that provides social inclusion and entertainment for people who would otherwise be alone.”
The centre runs from a building which is 22-years-old and located on church grounds.
“I can honestly say that we would have had to close some years ago were it not for the generosity of the local community,” Ms Grogan said.
“The only way we can survive is through fundraising which we do 52 weeks a year. We sell cards and anything second hand that we can get our hands on.”
Local Cabra man Chris Bolton and his friends are just some of the locals who have helped to keep the centre afloat.
“We heard the centre was in trouble so we had to think of a way to dig them out,” he explained.
“All of us have family and friends who use the centre so we know how important it is to the community.
“I don’t know how they are expected to continue to provide such an excellent service with such little money.”
Through intense fundraising Mr Bolton and three friends managed to raise over e10,000 for the service recently.”
A spokesperson for the HSE clarified its position in relation to the Sancta Maria Centre.
“The organisation has applied for its funding to be increased for 2008 and the HSE is currently reviewing the situation,” she told Northside People.
It was confirmed that in the three years from 2004 to 2007, the centre was awarded a grant of e56,000 each year.
It is understood that the service received e61,000 last year.

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