18/12/12……Upbeat Day Centre Chief Plans for the Future

THAME and District Day Centre is bursting at the seams, its chairman of trustees, Tyrell Gillman told members, volunteers and supporters this afternoon.

Speaking at the Centre’s annual Christmas Lunch at the Spread Eagle in Thame, he stressed the need for the Centre to expand in line with the growing need for its services in the the future, and said it was only on this one day in the year that everyone could be together under the same roof.

Normally the membership?s attendance is split over three days in the week, at Thame and District Community Hospital, the Centre’s venue since it opened more than 25 years ago.

The Centre, a registered charity, provides day care for elderly or frail people in the Thame area and Mr Gillman pointed out that, with an an ageing and increasing population, the need for its services could only increase.

In an upbeat speech he stressed the Centre’s value to its members in creating links with the community ? and joked that one member?s granddaughter had asked why she attended the centre because ?you have a wider set of friends than I do!?

“That?s great,” said Mr Gillman. “I wish we could do that for more people.” He praised and thanked the Centre’s manager, Gill Coleman and her deputy, Stephanie Johnson, for making the centre run ?like clockwork? and also thanked local organisations, businesses and supermarkets for their support. And he envisaged possible future growth in its services: maybe a drop-in centre, and a Friends of the Day Centre group.

But he stressed the need to raise awareness of the Centre locally and focusing on funding, he quipped: “If anyone knows someone who has the odd half million, I would be really delighted to put this to good use.”