By Isle of Wight ObserverOver 1,000 Islanders have signed a petition to save the Local Area Coordinators ahead of a cabinet meeting that will decide their fate.
Some 600 people use the service across the Island have been described by scrutiny committee member Councillor Debbie Andre as a “cradle to grave service” for people in need.
The service aims to help people who could be in need of further adult social care intervention if they were not helped – effectively taking the strain off the adult social care system.
The service costs £400,000 and the cabinet would like to axe it in order to fund other public health services like drug, alcohol and sexual health services.
Green party candidate for the Island Vix Lowthion started the petition.
She said: “We call upon the Isle of Wight Council to fully fund this popular and critical service, which brings communities together and avoids even bigger and more expensive care being needed for some of the most vulnerable and isolated Islanders.
“It is an incredibly short term decision to withdraw a service which brings so much benefit across the Island.”
Cabinet are expected to vote in the proposals at their meeting in the Westridge Centre in Ryde on Thursday (November 8) at 5pm.
The petition can be found here: https://www.change.org/p/isle-of-wight-council-cabinet-save-local-area-coordinators-on-the-isle-of-wight
