DUNBAR Day Centre’s departing manager has described her time at the facility as “an amazing experience” as she prepares to call it a day.

Day centre users will say goodbye to Alison Lange later this month after almost a decade as manager.

Mrs Lange, who has regularly been joined by her two-year-old dog Elton, confirmed she would be leaving earlier this month.

She said: “It is with a great deal of regret that I have to tell you that Elton and I will be leaving on August 18.

“This has not been an easy decision to make.

“I still recall my first day here on June 1, 2007, with fondness and can truly say that working with you all these years has been an amazing experience.

“I had hoped that I would be able to continue for some time yet but my home circumstances have changed and my priorities with them. We have been through some difficult times over the years but I firmly believe that the centre is moving, very positively, towards a great future.”

Mrs Lange, who joined the day centre as assistant to then-manager Sally Drysdale in 2007, became manager the following April.

Since then she has overseen a number of changes, both in terms of the building and also the way care is provided.

That has led to the day centre now being registered with the Care Inspectorate.

She told the Courier that Dunbar was more than just the place in which she worked.

She said: “I live in Tranent but I think Dunbar is a wonderful town.

“The community is just totally amazing and I have never lived in a place where it can take you half an hour to walk along to the Co-op for a pint of milk… but I would like to.”

On a lighter note, the day centre, on the town’s Westgate, has enjoyed several parties down the years.

Mrs Lange added: “I think the royal wedding stands out in my head.

“We had an alternative wedding reception for Katherine and William which was a brilliant day complete with a wedding cake.”

The day centre also marked its 40th anniversary last year with a celebration for day centre users and an evening event for local dignitaries.

Gill Wilson, chairwoman of the day centre’s management committee and a community councillor, said it would be “different” without Mrs Lange around.

She said: “It will be different because her successor will start more or less from scratch with a new set of views in terms of how to satisfy all the demands from the Care Inspectorate.”

The soon-to-be vacant position has already been advertised, with interviews expected to take place later this month.