Highgate Day Centre on the move

Camden council has announced that four of its day centres for mental healthcare patients - including the Highgate Centre - will be closed and amalgamated into one central service in Kentish Town as part of the council's Community Investment Programme.

The proposed programme of work has particular ramifications for Highgate patients, as the centre would need to move twice: to a temporary location during construction of the new site at Greenwood Place, a former industrial site on Highgate Road; and again once the new building was complete.

Camden's Community Investment Programme seeks to improve community facilities using reduced funds as a result of recent local authority budget cuts. The Greenwood Place proposal was developed following a series of consultations with mental health patients and carers in the borough. Service users asked for more practical support and activities at evenings and weekends, which is not currently possible in the present building.

The new centre will combine services from four day-care centres: Highgate, Netherwood and Shoot Up Hill (West Hampstead), and Raglan (Kentish Town). The aim is to provide a modern community resource centre with a range of activities to promote wellbeing and reduce isolation. The HIghgate Centre currently offers thearapeutic art, photography, pottery, creative writing and music workshops as well as individual social care.

Camden and Islington NHS Trust is now consulting on the proposals until December 5. Three public meetings specifically for people using the Highgate Centre will take place on Friday 16 September at The Salvation Army Meeting Hall in Chalk Farm; Monday 31 October at the Charlie Ratchford Resource Centre, and on Friday 25 November at The Salvation Army Meeting Hall in Chalk Farm. Read more about the proposals here.