Over 100 supporters! And a letter to Kirklees' Cabinet

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for your support and all your shares. When I woke up this morning, I found we had reached 100 signatures! Amazing news. Every time I have checked, it has gone up - I think we are at 112 now? Please do share with anyone you feel might support us. 

I had a reply back from Kirklees Council's Cabinet Secretary this morning, to say I had applied too late to attend, and I should have applied by Thursday. I did reply that we had not been told of the closure until Wednesday afternoon, and asked if there could be a consideration of our case in the circumstances, but unfortunately that wasn't possible. The Secretary was very helpful, suggesting I contacted Cabinet members directly by email, and was kind enough to share their email addresses with me. I sent a letter this afternoon to all members of the Cabinet, and copied in the three Councillors for Mirfield, my three local councillors in Birkby, and the Recovery College. The letter is below, for your information. 

In a surprising turn of events, today a Kirklees Labour Councillor has announced she has stepped away from the Labour party and intends to stand as an Independent in the next election. So while I hope for the best, currently the councillors are dealing with the fallout from today's news. I'm not sure how this will affect our position. 

All the best, Lizzie 

Letter to Kirklees' Cabinet
Dear Kirklees Cabinet members, Councillors for Mirfield and for Birkby,

I'm a learner and Friend of the Calderdale and Kirklees Recovery College, which has its home in Mirfield at a Council-owned facility called Pathways. Last week, me and my fellow learners and volunteers at the Recovery College were informed that Kirklees would be closing the building. 

Thankfully the college itself has developed a network of some outreach locations, so it isn't the end of the learning provision. But we have a draft programme ready to be published (including the much-requested Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) which helps build community resilience, and my own offering, Batik and Tie Dye), and now we don't have a location to run these courses. 

More importantly, the site is not just a building to us, but it's come to be a home over the years. We have a Library of mental health related literature, a permanent craft room and a craft storage room with fixed storage and resources such as a kiln. We hold steering group meetings for the college, and group events for volunteers to meet, too. Often we might run courses with two other people, but we might only see the rest of the team once in a blue moon, so having somewhere we can drop by for a coffee and see our fellow volunteers is vital. We do not currently have anywhere else to hold meetings or store resources. If we had known, we might have been able to plan and make arrangements. But just letting us all know at the last minute, without a consultation has been awful. 

I don't believe Kirklees Council has assessed the impact of this particular decision. 
I have read the budget impact assessments for both Adults Health and Growth Regeneration and they appear to me to have only reviewed the services Kirklees Council provide and, separately, the impact of building closure. They didn't appear to cover the issue of the potential impact on service provision by someone else (Recovery College) renting Council property (the Pathways site). But we are Kirklees residents and voters, and we are still affected. We are also recipients of Council social care services, and the impact of losing this key service will no doubt have repercussions for our mental health and our need for other local services. 

I would like to appeal (as a service user) for a six month extension on the building to allow us to investigate other options and allow the Recovery College to run the courses planned for next term. I would like to request Kirklees Council undertakes an impact assessment, and to invite you as Councillors to consult with learners and volunteers (most of whom are disabled people and/or vulnerable adults). I've written a petition which is beginning to gather public support in the few days we've had available to do so: 
https://chng.it/qLRhfcvc4g

I aspire to put together a Community Interest Company as our neighbours at the HUDAWI centre are doing, with a view to asking for a transfer of ownership in due course; or to open negotiations with the Recovery College funders, the local mental health trust.  Due to the short notice, there's no time to even gather information to be able to look at what options might be open to us. The last minute notice to a group of mental health service users has had a considerable negative impact on us. 

I ask you to reconsider this issue in your budget discussions, and to get in touch with me and other Recovery College service users to discuss what happens next for our much loved home.  I invite you to come and meet us at the Pathways site, to see what we do and what we offer the community.  Courses are open to everyone, and include not only specific mental health information and a chance to develop interests and social networks, but also support for carers of people with dementia (like myself).  The college does not require disclosure of personal medical information in order to register, and attracts a range of people from the local community. 

I appreciate that you have financial targets to meet, but there are ways you could include us in discussions, as with our friends and neighbours at the HUDAWI Centre.  It may be that the building will still be closed, but perhaps we can look to its future together?