The letter below was written on behalf of one sister's love and care for her twin sister - "I write to you to appeal for help in relation to the decision by Pembrokeshire County Council to go to consultation with regard to proposals to close the Avenue Centre in Tenby. My email is quite lengthy and I make no apologies for this, I would however ask you to read it to the end. The reason for my primary concern with this closure is my twin sister Maggie, she is 53 years old and has attended the centre for most of her adult life. She has Down's Syndrome. She is not a 'customer' or a 'client' she is a human being. Maggie, to use a very harsh term, is a product of the mindset of the time that we were born, things thankfully are hugely different today. At birth my parents were told to take me home and the hospital would take care of Maggie - this is fact and was not uncommon in the 1960s. At 5 when I started school there was little or nothing in Pembrokeshire for Maggie, although a part of the current Avenue Centre was able to take in some children, Maggie was one of these children. From here she transferred to the newly established unit at St Florence. At 14 she was moved to Portfield in Haverfordwest, a nightmare time for us as her family because she hated it and we had two terrible years. At 16 she moved to the Avenue Centre where she has been ever since. There were no choices it was the Avenue Centre or nothing. When assessments where still carried out Maggie's mental age was judged to be that of an 8 year old. She has basic reading ability, at 26 we found that she is profoundly dyslexic, and minimal numeracy skills but this aside is actually very bright. First impressions would indicate that she is relatively independent, however she has no concept of everyday things such as money, would have no understanding of using public transport even if available in rural Pembrokeshire and has little understanding of personal safety and risks, the appearance of independence is down in reality to the hard work my brother and I have put in over the years with the support of the staff at the centre. Spend time with Maggie and she would prefer to play 'snap' or snakes and ladders, she would even suggest hide and seek if outside basically whilst 53 in body she is sadly not 53 in mind and this is not because we want her to be this way, we would give anything for this to be different. Until approx the late '90s Maggie's life is what was on offer from Social Services, we were not expected to want more and neither was she. The fact that social care has improved radically in the last 15 years is not a reason to expect the Maggies of this world to embrace this new world. Social Services made the Avenue Centre her world and now because there has been a much needed rethink people like Maggie and others of her generation should not have their world ripped apart because its the current trend. So what is the centre for Maggie. It is the centre of her world, most of what she does centres around The Avenue. To her it is her workplace and her social lifeline. She is involved with various groups, that she would not have access to if not in the centre, there is a shopping project, a walking group, the gym, the Colby Lodge gardening project and Friday bowling, all in sessions timed for Maggie to cope. There are also activities within the centre ranging from Arts and Crafts, Computing, Advocacy and Drama - the Avenue Centre productions are quite famous. All of which give Maggie a purpose and help build the independence that Social Services claim she cannot get at the centre. It is her social network many of her friends are lifelong ones and without this facility she would have little or no contact with them. The centre gives her independence without it she would have my brother and I, both of us are of working age and need to work, so with no centre Maggie's life would be very restricted and very lonely. So my reason for writing this is to ask for help to ensure PCC are left with no doubt that the centre should not close. Alone I think we have little chance. Furthermore the handling of this matter by PCC has so far left me with little confidence that the consultation will be handled in an appropriate and fair way. On the 23rd November, Pembrokeshire County Council wrote to us as Parents/Carers of 'customers' of the Avenue Centre, Tenby advising of the forthcoming cabinet meeting scheduled for the 30th November, where they were to be asked to consider a proposal to consult on future options on the centre. We were advised that we could view this proposal at the council website but no link was provided. After much searching we found the proposal within the agenda of the cabinet meeting along with the report from the Director of Social Services and Leisure - in a nutshell the proposal is to close the centre, a fact that I'm sure you will be aware of. Our letters were dated the 23rd November. At approx 16:00 on the 23rd November the Western Telegraph carried the story stating that the centre may close. On the 24th November, Radio Pembrokeshire carried the same story on their news updates, this was heard by those attending the centre whilst on their way home on social services transport, many were devastated. We as families only received our letters on the 24th and where therefore unable to explain what this all meant to our loved ones. I phoned Pembrokeshire CC to make a complaint about the handling of this correspondence and was advised that centre 'customers' had been told about the proposed consultation at a meeting on the Monday. When I asked them to explain what this meant they couldn't other than by quoting that there was to be a meeting in relation to consultation with regard to the centre. A fellow carer had read this letter and had no idea of what was being planned it was so ambiguous so how did PCC feel that they had therefore done their bit in telling the customers at the centre what was happening and why did they do this without consulting me as Maggie's primary carer. I had a very unsatisfactory response from Sue Thomson with regard to this, her response to the fact that this news was in the public domain prior to all relevant parties being advised of this was equally unacceptable. There is also huge rumour and speculation within the area at the moment in relation to what the future may hold if the council agrees to go ahead with this closure including the fact that they only believe 4 individuals at the centre will need centre based services, so what of the others many live like Maggie in rural areas and if there is nothing on offer their lives would become very isolated and far from independent which is what Social Services are basing this report on. Similar rumours abound over the site itself, it would appear that many believe that it will be earmarked for sale or has in fact already been sold. The youth centre will allegedly close some time next year and the gym beneath the current library have also, supposedly, been told that their lease will not be renewed in the early part of 2016. Rumour or not this is deeply upsetting for those going to the centre and also us as carers. At the end of the day we are the ones to pick up the pieces. We have little or no faith in the consultation process at this stage it seems to have been poorly managed but at the back of this many of us believe that this is deliberately so. I appeal once again for any help you may give with this matter. There is a meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 17th where PCC wish to start the consultation process with carers/families but we would ask that if you are able to attend to give support to us it would be hugely appreciated. Many thanks Kate Schofield"