I READ with great sadness the article titled "City's poor state of mental health" (Daily Post, January 25).
I work at a day centre in south Liverpool and support adults who suffer from mental health problems. The centre has been running for over 30 years and has helped many hundreds of people to remain in control of their illness and lives. The centre also supports the families of those affected by mental illness.
Once people regain control of their illness, then they can often develop their own coping skills and lead a full and active healthy lifestyle. Many of our clients have recovered to the point whereby they no longer require a psychiatrist or community psychiatric nurse, make fewer trips to their GP and take less medication.
However, Liverpool City Council is withdrawing funding and the centre will close – we are just one of many other day centres and community groups closing in 2010.
The likelihood is that those individuals who benefited from our services will be forgotten about. Their health will deteriorate, their families may struggle to cope with their loved ones and the NHS will then have to pick up the pieces.
The crisis team will have more incidents to deal with, more assessments will have to be made and there may be more hospital admissions. This will be a costly exercise that could be prevented if things are left as they are. Run properly, day centres can work very effectively and cost the taxpayer far less in the long term.
Mike Davies, Sefton Grove
Labour’s legacy
IT’S a shame Alex Black (Daily Post Letters, January 28) doesn’t live in the real political world.
He talks of David Cameron potentially wrecking any chance of recovery, laying all the blame for the present economic crisis at the doors of bankers.
True, they must take some of the blame.
But the latest news from one of the world’s biggest and most trusted credit ratings agencies – the people who decide whether whole countries are booming or going bust – puts the UK on a par with Chile, saying the Government has failed to put in place proper safeguards after the credit crisis.
It’s a great testament to a Labour Government. We’re borrowing £178bn to keep afloat. I can’t put off paying my household bills or underpaying by a single penny, so how on earth does this reckless Government think it’s going to carry on?
Add to that people like Tesco’s Sir Terry Leahy telling us many school leavers are unemployable because they can’t add up or communicate properly.
Towns and cities are no-go areas because Labour’s 24-hour licensing means they are boozed- up war zones.
And we’re fearful of saying good morning to a stranger in case it offends their race, religion or human rights.
David Cameron is right to say we must cut our country’s coat according to the cloth available. That’s just a start. He’s prepared to tell the country that this needs to be done unlike the present Government which, like all its Labour predecessors, has created an unholy political and economic mess which will take years to sort out.
And Gordon Brown hasn’t got the nerve to come clean and tell the country how serious the crisis his government has created really is.
Robert Hughes, Prenton
Budget talk
REGARDING David Bartlett’s article on the council budget debate and his view on a hung council and role for the Liberal Party Group (Daily Post, January 28), I have a few points to make.
Firstly, the budget amendments we put to the council this year were supported by both Lib-Dems and Labour group councillors.
I have little doubt, had there been a Labour-led council, Cllr Anderson and his colleagues would have equally supported them on their merits.
In fairness, over recent council budget debates, Labour have supported Liberal Party amendments concerning shifting spending from advertising to community safety, when even the Lib Dems did not.
The Liberal Party has made it clear we would work with all parties to ensure Liverpool City has a sound budget. We have been equally critical of both Lib-Dems and Labour concerning the erosion of open spaces and building on our parks.
We have been critical of both the Lib-Dems and Labour wasting tens of millions on demolishing thousands of terraced homes and pushing up the city’s waiting lists.
In a hung council, we will not allow petty party politics to get in the way of sound finance and taking tough decisions to improve value for money and council services.
Cllr Steve Radford, Leader, Liberal Party Group
Impressive plans
HAVING visited the Peel Liverpool Waters exhibition in the city centre last Friday, I can honestly say I was very surprised and impressed by what the company has planned for the derelict eyesore north of Princes Dock and the way it is fitted in at its most southern point with the World Heritage Site.
Even the old docks have been preserved and all the old buildings renovated.
Good luck to this project, which I sadly will not see finalised, but will hopefully see some progress on over the next few years.
G McIver, L30
Tiles of beauty
I SEE that the Minton floor in St George’s Hall is to go on display once again next week. I encourage anyone with any interest in Liverpool to go and see the floor. It is a truly magnificent work of art.
H Nolan, Aintree
