THE future of the Hollies Day Centre at its present location in Musselburgh has been safeguarded.

It has been confirmed that the much-loved facility for older people will continue as it is in its High Street home.

Fears were raised back in 2016 that the day centre might be forced to relocate or even cease to exist in its present form because a new day centre facility could not be accommodated within the current building.

East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership needed to provide at least 18 places of registered day care for people with complex care needs in Musselburgh given that it was the largest town in East Lothian. This was in line with need identified as part of a wider review of older people’s day centres.

This led to the partnership and the Hollies exploring the options available, which ranged from potentially adapting the current building to accommodate 18 people through to looking at possible other buildings if the Hollies couldn’t be adapted.

After nearly two years of talks, and Care Inspectorate and architects’ input, it was found that, in order to adapt the Hollies premises, the lunch club and public cafe would be lost at the expense of more than 100 users.

A joint decision remains to be made about the eight day care places already in existence at the Hollies current premises but, at present, there is agreement that these places will continue.

The health and social care partnership is now looking for somewhere else in Musselburgh to accommodate the other 10 places.

Following a meeting this month, the Hollies trustees have confirmed that agreement has been reached with the health and social care partnership that the status quo will remain at the day centre.

In a joint statement, the trustees said: “The Hollies distributed a consultation paper to service users and had 271 responses completed in two weeks. The overwhelming consensus of the people consulted is for the Hollies to continue providing the service it does now for the people of Musselburgh and surrounding areas. We have also received positive feedback on our proposed expansion of activities in the hall in the afternoons.

“We have agreed with the health and social care partnership that the Hollies should remain as it is. We are looking forward to continuing to work as before and to embark on exciting new projects to meet the wishes of all those who attend the Hollies.”

Liz Shannon, centre manager, said: “Funding is a constant battle for us all at the Hollies and we have been in limbo whilst these talks were taking place and have been unable to approach funders as we were unclear what funding we were asking for.

“The health and social care partnership has assured us they will continue to give funding at the current level for this financial year which is £82,000 to continue to fund the eight registered places which we are grateful for in this transition period. However, that is less than a third of what it costs to run all our services and maintain the building.

“Things are going to be very tight for the near future while we submit funding applications to funders like the lottery; however, we are very excited at the prospect of moving forward and very grateful for the support from the people of Musselburgh and beyond.”

Councillor Fiona O’Donnell, health and social care spokesperson, said: “I am pleased that the Hollies will continue to provide a wide range of services in Musselburgh.

“This was a really positive meeting and the plans to provide more activities in the Hollies are good news for local people.

“The health and social care partnership will continue its work to increase the amount of day support in Musselburgh for older people with complex care needs.”