A FAMILY who underwent a five-year battle to get their disabled son into a day care unit have hit out at Swindon Council’s money-saving shake-up plans.

Brian and Susan Osbourn, whose 30-year-old son Gavin was the subject of the Adver’s Get Help for Gavin appeal in 2004, are furious that the council is consulting on proposals to close one of two day care centres in the town and instead hold sessions at different facilities on different days.

One of the centres the council is proposing to scrap is One Step Ahead, in South Marston Industrial Park, where Gavin, who has Down’s Syndrome and learning difficulties, has been going since the start of the year.

The council claims the move, which would save £850,000 over two years, would not only save money but also improve and update the service.

But Mr Osbourn, of Covingham, says if the centre is scrapped, his son’s quality of life would deteriorate rapidly.

“Gavin loves the centre, he loves the staff, he loves everything about it.” he said.

“It’s absolutely brilliant. He does music, dancing and lots of other activities while he is there.

“He could hardly communicate at all before and it is only since he has been going to One Step Ahead that he has been able to communicate.

“The staff have done more for him in the past eight months than anybody has ever been able to do.”

The family contacted the Adver more than six years ago because Swindon Council’s social services department had not found Gavin suitable day care provision, which meant he was confined to the family home seven days a week.

He has been attending One Step Ahead for the past eight months, for a total of nine hours a week.

Mr Osbourn said: “I just don’t know what we would do without it, Gavin would have to be back at home 24/7 and my wife and I would have to go back to doing everything separately, when Gavin is at the centre for just three hours it gives us the chance to go to the shops together.

“Everybody knows that adults with learning disabilities like Gavin rely on routine, and you build upon that routine.

“What the council are proposing has no routine which means these adults will develop behaviour problems and once that happens, parents and carers just cannot control them.

“Gavin used to have behaviour problems before he went to One Step Ahead, and its like living with a time bomb.

“One Step Ahead provides a life line to many parents and carers so that we can at least try to maintain some form of normal life.”

Councillor Peter Mallinson, Swindon Council’s cabinet member for health and adult social care, said: “We are reviewing all our health and social care day centres and this may see some of our services being redesigned.

“We expect the review to be concluded by October and no decisions will be made until then.

“We have been working with a group of 30 service users since January to pilot some of the redesigned services and will work with all our service users to determine how their needs will be met.”