I AM alarmed at Wiltshire Council’s proposal to cut the number of children’s centres in Trowbridge from three to one.

One aim might be to deliver more of the children’s centre services out in the community, rather than in fixed buildings. However, I fear they are less likely to be used if locations are unpredictable and I wonder if they have budgeted for the extra back office time that liaising with external venues and publicising services will entail.

Each centre serves its own region of need in Trowbridge. Unless a new base was provided more centrally, any of the three would be fairly remote from swathes of potential users in the remaining two thirds of the town.

People from all walks of life use the centres, not just the high risk and deprived sectors. The sole Bradford on Avon centre is also up for closure, as “BoA is too affluent to need one”– despite having a food bank. Affluence is not a measure of how well you deal with the life-changing shock of a newborn, of how much you understand parenting, of the potential isolation if you don’t know many people, or of how hormones and sleep deprivation can affect you. I know many people who have been helped by being able to turn up and chat to staff in confidence, or talking to other mums at children’s centre playgroups and classes. As a mum of twins, I certainly found the centres to be a lifeline.

Children’s centres also act as a useful hub for professional bodies to meet or share information on neutral ground, e.g. midwives, health visitors, nurseries, schools, and volunteer groups out in the community.

Perhaps there is an anticipation that voluntary organisations can step in to fill some of the void? However, the local National Childbirth Trust (NCT) branch has recently been disbanded due to lack of volunteers. I volunteered as a breastfeeding peer supporter, at a weekly group hosted at Bellefield Children’s Centre. I also set up Trowbridge’s Twins & Multiples Group, but only with the support of Bellefield Children’s Centre, who offered to host a group whilst we got ourselves established.

The children’s centres form a strong hub, without which many voluntary efforts would not be able to take off.

A petition is being circulated (online via www.change.org and hard copy) to encourage the council to retain two centres, and we are approaching 1,000 signatures.

Louise Allan, Ashton Street, Trowbridge