Age UK members start petition following closure announcement

Member Maureen Smither (right) with her friends Myrtle Williams and John Alderson at the centre

She and other members will be in The Martlets shopping centre this Saturday (November 25), asking for people to sign a petition, following the decision from Age UK West Sussex to close its centre in the town when its lease runs out in March.

She said: “We are just trying to keep it open, whether it is run by Age UK or somebody else.

“The centre has done so much for me since I lost my husband and I am trying to give something back.

Members at the Cherry Tree Centre in Burgess Hill

“It is not so much for me, it is for people who struggle to put food in the microwave, they need this place.

“Going to one place for one thing and another for one thing is not going to work. This is Burgess Hill – we are not going down without a fight.”

Young at Heart Community Partnership – a charity based in Burgess Hill, which formed in the wake of the decision by Age UK West Sussex to close the centre, will also be there on Saturday to support members.

Age UK said it had seen a ‘natural decline’ in members at the centre and despite its best efforts the centre had ‘not appealed’ to the more active younger older residents in the town.

The charity also said the location of the centre in the town was ‘not central enough’.

It has pledged to offer its current services at new venues across the town from April and says it will be consulting with stakeholders over the next few months to make sure the new services are in line with both what the charity is contracted to provide and what the community needs.