Foxgloves Will Remain Open
Friday 10th December
2010
The Council Executive, at
its meeting on Wednesday evening, backed proposals for Foxgloves
respite care home to remain open. The decision was made
possible as Bedford Borough Council produced new plans for
sustainable provision of respite care in the area following a
successful consultation period.
The Mayor of Bedford
Borough, Dave Hodgson, said: “We are delighted that we have been
able to work with the parents and the staff to find a way to keep
Foxgloves open and continue to provide respite care there in a
sustainable way. The purpose of publishing our budget proposals so
early was to enable a genuine, open consultation with residents and
service users about how best to achieve the savings required while
protecting services. This is a fantastic example of the results of
that process, with the families who use the facility sitting down
with the Council and working together to find
solutions.”
David Cavanagh (campaigning parent)
said: “Thank you to the council for listening and
responding to parents and families over this proposal, it is so
encouraging to know that our work and effort, in caring for our
children, is recognised for what it is and that you see the value
of this vital service. Although, the biggest ‘thank you’ goes to
all the parents, past, present and future, of children at
Foxgloves, for your unwavering support and commitment towards this
campaign and your unswerving belief that we would win this fight.
It has been a real encouragement and inspiration to all of us, we
encouraged and supported each other every step of the way, also to
say thank you for caring, for caring for your child and caring
about this service.”
Cllr David Sawyer, portfolio holder for
Children’s Services, at Bedford Borough Council, said: “I am
determined to maintain the dialogue that we have started with
parents and other users of our services. Now that parents
know that we will listen and make changes, we will continue to
listen and try and respond where necessary. Our aim is
continuously to try and improve our services within the financial
envelope in which we are forced to work. If we do this, we
will achieve our strategic objective of providing the best possible
services to vulnerable children and other users of children’s
services.”
In November, Foxgloves was recognised by
Ofsted to be an ‘Outstanding’ respite care home.