Porthcawl Respite Centre closure

Plans to close the John Grooms Danygraig Respite Care Centre in Porthcawl will be a hugely disappointing to many local people.

Proposals to combine the 30-bed nursing and residential care home with the Jane Hodge Resort Hotel near Cowbridge will mean the Porthcawl centre, which was kept open following a campaign in 2001 which attracted over 12,000 supporters, is to close almost immediately.

This latest proposal will be met with great disappointment amongst everyone who worked so hard a few years ago to keep the centre going. It provides a much needed service to its users and is a vital facility for those people who need the excellent respite care that it offers.

I realise that the charity has made the decision based on the resources that it has available but the requirements of its stakeholders, not least the regular users of the centre, needs to be taken into account.

The strength of feeling last time around and the high regard in which local people hold the centre is a crystal clear sign of the need to keep the facility open. I will be working closely with politicians from all sides, local campaigners and partnership agencies to do all that I possible can to secure the centre’s future.