Playgroup hunts for new home
Reporter: Lewis Jones
Date published: 01 February 2011
Determined . . . chairman Liz Brocklehurst is adamant the group will continue
LEADERS of a playgroup for children with special needs have been left devastated after being told they will have to leave the building that has housed them for over 40 years.
Members of the Saddleworth Special Needs Playgroup, at the old NHS clinic in Springhead, say they may have to find a new property as soon as April after the Primary Care Trust announced it was selling the plot.
But moving could be a struggle. The group, established in 1969, already has a £6,000 shortfall in its annual budget, which it has to cover by fund-raising.
Enjoying free rent since 2001, moving into a new building could double that figure and pose a threat to the future of the long-standing service.
Chairman of the playgroup trustees, Liz Brocklehurst, said: “We were told in December that the NHS were selling off the buildings and that this would be in the second batch from April onwards. We are absolutely determined the group has got to continue. We will do anything it takes, but it is proving very, very difficult to try to find something similar.”
Liz is now spending most of her spare time frantically looking for new properties and potential options for the group. The news came less than 12 months after the team spent a £10,000 grant on specialist outdoor play equipment for the youngsters.
As part of the grant application process they received a letter from NHS Oldham saying that for the tenure would be there for the foreseeable future.
Attempts to use the Springhead Children’s Centre have also been in vain as the group takes tots from across Oldham, out of the centre’s catchment area. Liz added: “I’ve had letters from former parents saying what a lifeline it has been to them and the children.
“It has proved support for parents over the years, it’s such a blow.
“If we could stay in the premises I would jump for joy.”
The last of the NHS staff moved out in December.
Ideally, volunteers — who run the group four mornings a week — would like to stay in the building and pay rent to a new owner.
Playleader Sue Jones, who has been with the group for 31 years, said: “We will not close. Somewhere, somehow we will keep going.
“We have had such good support from the NHS over the years and we’re not blaming them, they have a deficit to make up.
“We know the sort of climate we are in but it is just so sad when it’s affecting voluntary services.”
To help with fund-raising, or if you have any information which may help the team in its search, contact Liz on 01457-877-731.
