Ref. 28714-27THREE social services centres providing vital support for deprived families fear the axe in a swath of cost-cutting measures by Swindon Council.

Staff of the three centres have seen documents that they believe suggests the council is thinking of terminating the annual £50,000 funding for each of them.

The council is looking to save money across the board in order to keep any rise in council tax this spring to around 5 per cent.

Social services needs to trim its expenditure by £250,000. Pulling the plug on the financial support to the family centres Welcome in Lydhurst Crescent, Walcott in Essex Walk and West Swindon in Gainsborough Way would prune the socialServices' budget to the tune of £150,000.

But the impact would "without doubt" mean the closure of all three, forecast Lyn Thompson, of the Welcome Family Centre.

"We help to keep afloat families in crisis and deprivation," said Mrs Thompson, wife of Coun Barrie Thompson (Lab, Parks).

"We provide self-help education, after-school group activities, creches, advocacy where it is needed, and counselling to promote self-esteem."

Currently, their funding comes from the council's Children In Need budget.

"If this money is taken from us, there's no way we can continue," warned Ms Thompson.

"It's heartbreaking to think of what will happen to all the vulnerable people who are dependent on us.

"This really would be cutting loose a whole lot of at-risk people who could very easily come to untold harm.

"If these centres go as they surely will if the financial pipeline is cut off then there'll be a big hole in the safety-net for the vulnerable in Swindon."

The centres assist in co-ordinating the Government's strategy towards tackling the problems of teenage pregnancies, domestic violence and under-privileged children.

"Without our operation the council will find it very difficult to fulfil its statutory obligation," she added.

"The consequences could be dire and not something I'd want on my conscience. I really do hope that the council has thought this through all the way to the bitter end."

But Coun Ian Dobie (Con, Haydon Wick), who has just taken over from Coun Jemimia Milton (Con, Chiseldon and Wroughton) as the lead member for social services, denied "emphatically" that any decision had been taken.

"The public consultation process is still going on and therefore it would be foolish to reach any conclusion before we have the feedback from the public.

"Everything is still very much in the melting-pot, but if the electorate feel that we should be making savings from social services, then it's our duty to see where and if that can be done. After all, we must never lose sight of the fact that it's public money we're talking about."

In Monday's Evening Advertiser, Swindon's other voluntary groups responded to the possibility of their being on the council hitlist.

One of the options being considered is reducing the grants by half a million pounds to community groups, such as Age Concern, Swindon's Women's Refuge and the Racial Equality Council.

Whatever the council would like to do, Big Brother at Westminster is insisting that no rise in local tax should be above "a low single figure" and threatens to "cap" any authority that fails to comply.

For this dad staff are his family's angels.

Clive Robinson, 50, a single parent of Welcombe Avenue, Park North, is one of the 600-plus people helped every year by the three centres.

Mr Robinson, a store branch manager before suffering cancer and then a stroke, does not believe he could have survived without the "lifeline" that the Welcome Family Centre has provided.

"Two years ago I had a stroke and the staff rallied round not only to save me but to keep my family together," he said.

"They took my kids to school and picked them up, made sure they had a hot meal and were properly clothed. They were my family's angels and they watched over my kids so they didn't have to be taken into care. They have given me back my life how can you possibly put a price on that?"

Mr Robinson is the father of two boys, aged seven and eight.

"I would even go as far as saying the centre was responsible for me getting through all the major surgery," he added. "The fact that I knew the kids were being cared for enabled me to relax and be stress-free. The doctors said that being confident and feeling good were requirements for recovery.

"If my kids had to go into foster care it would cost the council £400 a week for each of them. From that you can see what false economy it would be to force these centres to close.

"The council is giving them a pittance for what they get in return."

Michael Litchfield