Users 'shocked' by 'sudden' community centre closure

A popular community centre has announced it will be closing its doors due to "increasing costs and financial pressures", the charity responsible for running it has said.

In an email sent to users of Beaufort Community Centre on Friday, Beaufort Community Association said it would be closing and handing the building back to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council on 1 May.

The charity said along with "a steady decrease in centre income", it "simply cannot generate enough revenue" to cover its outgoings "now or in the future".

BCP Council said it is "directly supporting parents and carers of those children who attended the centre".

But Yolanda, who runs dance classes from the centre, said the announcement had "just come as a shock" that the closure would be "so sudden".

Bournemouth East MP Tom Hayes said the closure was "terrible news" and that he was "deeply sorry" to everybody who would be affected by "the loss of yet another vital community space".

"Put bluntly," he said "BCP Council could have handled this better".

"I've been putting urgent questions to BCP Council since 9 April, but only received some answers last night despite chasing for a response and highlighting the urgency of the situation," the Labour MP explained.

He said 18 members of association staff would now be made redundant, whilst parents of dozens of early years children who attend the centre during school term-time would be supported by the council to find alternative childcare.

LEAP Dance School currently holds sessions at the centre six days a week for more than 200 children.

"LEAP Dance is a family, a community, it's not Beaufort community centre, so, worst case scenario, we'll just have to find a new place for us to continue," Yolanda said.

"It will be a bit of a hiccup to start with, but everything happens for a reason, so we just have to go with the flow and make the best of the situation."

She added: "It's definitely not going to be the end of our dance school, we'll carry on, we'll make it work and we'll go from there."

In a statement, a spokesperson for BCP Council said: "It is important to be clear that Beaufort Community Centre including the Early Years provision is not a council-run facility."

The council said it had now "stepped in to help parents and carers find alternative" early years childcare.

"We have quickly identified available preschool placements in the local area, and our Family Information Service is directly supporting parents and carers of those children who attended the centre by providing information on early years childcare options, breakfast clubs and after-school care.

"Residents that use government-funded hours can move their entitlement to a new provider immediately.

"We will continue to assess the levels of childcare sufficiency in the Littledown and Iford area and support any providers wishing to develop existing or new provision."