CAMPAIGNERS battling the closure of a day centre described as a “lifeline” for families caring for relatives suffering from Alzheimer’s are celebrating a three-month stay of execution which they hope will give them valuable breathing space to pull off a community rescue plan.

There was an outcry when the Alzheimer’s Society announced, in January, its five-day support service operated out of Marjorie Gray Hall, in Grayswood Road, since 1994, would close on March 31.

The charity blamed “consistently low attendances” for the closure, but objectors protested it was the removal of funding for transport due to social care cuts that had caused the drop in numbers and the need for its service was greater than ever.

The society is closing all its day centres in a switch that will see more money invested in its ‘side by side’ community service in which ‘dementia navigators’ undertake home visits.

Campaigners objected other Alzheimer’s Society day centres had been given six months’ notice – but the brach in Haslemere, where the charity was founded in 1979, had been given half that time.

County, borough and town councillors put their concerns directly to the charity’s chief executive Jeremy Hughes at two meetings in Haslemere a fortnight ago, and last Friday the charity granted a three-month reprieve.

Chris Wyatt, Alzheimer’s regional operations manager for the South East, said: “We are pleased to confirm we have been able to extend the notice period for the closure of Haslemere Day Centre.

“Alzheimer’s Society will now cease running the centre on June 30, but the hope is, given the extra time, it will enable the community to move forward with their plans to take over the running of the centre.

“We’re working closely with alternative providers, as well as our dementia navigators and Surrey County Council, to provide as much support as possible during the transitional period.”

Welcoming the news, Haslemere Mayor Sahran Abeysundara said: “It is fantastic we have been able to secure an extension to the day centre service, however our work is only now beginning. If we, as a community, want to retain this vital service, we need to all work together. The council will be calling a meeting shortly to plan the way forward.”

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, the Haslemere MP who is also Surrey’s ‘Dementia Champion’, also met Mr Hughes to press the case against closure.

The Tory MP said: “The extension to the notice period is great news for the Marjorie Gray Hall and those people that use the facility. I am grateful to the Alzheimer’s Society team for listening to the concerns of the people that call on this wonderful hall.

“The whole town got behind this as soon as the news broke about its closure.

“This extra time will allow proper plans and ideas to be formulated to enable it to continue in a new guise whilst still providing the essential dementia care and support so sorely needed.”

Key campaigner carer Maggie Barlow expressed relief the notice period had been extended and was confident the community would rally round to preserve the service.

She said: “This gives the community more time to think out our direction as well as get the necessary funding and decide how the building can be used most effectively.

“We must find a suitable bus to bring people from Milford, Godalming and Farnham to increase the numbers and make the centre work financially again, as it did in the days when free transport was provided.”

County councillor Nikki Barton is working with Surrey on an action plan.

She told The Herald: “I have been working closely with senior commissioning managers to support the centre to find a long-term solution, including the possibility of linking up with other groups interested in using the hall, to help make it economically viable.

“It is going to be a huge challenge that will require significant effort from the community to secure this vital resource that is relied upon by those suffering from dementia and their carers alike.”

A key concern is the legal ownership of the hall, which is currently owned by NHS Property Services.

Mrs Barton has asked Haslemere Vision to register the property as a community asset, which means if the building came onto the market the community would have the first right of purchase.