NORTH KENT: Day centre for disabled people 'like second home' (From News Shopper)

NORTH KENT: Day centre for disabled people 'like second home'

4:19pm Tuesday 16th March 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

Six months ago a group of disabled people set up their own day centre after becoming disillusioned with council run services. They told MICHAEL PURTON how it has become a cornerstone of their community.

WHEN the North Kent Disabled Foundation (NKDF) began using the Waller Park Pavilion in Dartford in September last year just seven people attended.

Now more than 20 people go along to the centre in the middle of the park off Wood Lane every Tuesday and Wednesday to take part in a range of activities.

And NKDF founder Danny O’Brien, 64, has big plans for the organisation, which is now a registered charity, saying he wants to turn it into “the place to go for people in north Kent”.

He said: “Because our centre is run by people with disabilities for people with disabilities, we understand each other and nobody gets treated like a child.

“We just have fun and provide support for each other, and I think word of mouth has spread and that’s why more and more people are coming here.”

The married father-of-four, who lives in Ridge Lane in Culverstone and is wheelchair-bound, added: “As more people join we will open on a Monday.

“If numbers keep increasing, and I think they will, we’ll do Thursdays and Fridays too and eventually we want to move to a bigger centre.”

For their next project, the NKDF members have set themselves a target of raising around £50,000 to buy a coach customised for disabled people.

Mr O’Brien said: “We want a coach so we can pick up people who find it difficult to get here, new people who’d like to come, and go on day trips.”

Members of the group are planning a number of events to try to raise money to buy the coach, including a fun day in the woodland surrounding their centre in May.

Mr O’Brien says he decided to set up the centre because the facilities for disabled people run by Kent County Council (KCC) are “not good enough”.

In October 2008 the council closed the Queen Elizabeth Foundation Centre in Brent Way, Dartford, and moved activities for disabled people to centres across north Kent.

Mr O’Brien said: “Those centres are just community halls not set-up especially for disabled people.”

Mary Letchford, of Joyce Green Lane in Dartford, began attending the NKDF centre in September and the 68-year-old says she loves it there.

She said: “Everybody is really happy here, as we all get on and it’s good value for money.

“We pay £28 a day and that gets us a hot lunch, as many drinks as we like, all the equipment for the activities we do, and support from two members of staff.

“We have a beautiful view of the surrounding park and there’s a great atmosphere. For us, this place is like a second home.”