Anglican Care Waiapu chief executive officer Lucy Laitinen: The Elske Centre has lived up to its name for 24 years.
Dannevirke’s Elske Centre is closing, with the organisation behind it citing low client numbers and concerns with the building.
A spokesperson from Anglican Care Waiapu said the decision to close the centre next month after 24 years was a difficult one.
The centre, situated behind St John’s Anglican Church in High St, provided programmes for the elderly which included guest speakers, entertainment, arts and crafts, as well as helping the elderly with such things as safe driver courses.
Up to 20 older people used the centre, attending a day activity programme two days a week.
Clients were also provided with transport if needed.
Funding was either provided by Te Whatu Ora Midcentral, or those who went along paid a small session fee, with the shortfall made up by Anglican Care Waiapu.
One volunteer said it was an important service as many of those who used it lived on their own and it was the only time they could get out.
The spokesperson said in more recent years the service had struggled to operate “efficiently and effectively”.
A number of factors contributed to the decision to close the programme, including low client numbers, and little interest in joining the programme from older people in the community.
“Sadly, volunteer numbers have waned and efforts to find new volunteers have been unsuccessful,” the spokesperson said.
There were also concerns over the church hall facilities which had deteriorated to the point where the building was considered not fit for purpose.
The spokesperson said the hall did not have a current building WOF and extensive structural work would be required to achieve the required standard.
“There has been significant work undertaken over several years to identify an alternative venue, but unfortunately no suitable solution has been found.”
There were also financial reasons and the spokesperson said there had been changes in employed staff, particularly in management and coordination roles, which had been difficult to replace, citing relatively low numbers of paid hours per week.
“The annual operating budget has consistently been in significant deficit and has required ACW to draw on its financial reserves to continue operation.”
In its etymology, according to Wiktionary, elske is derived from Old Norse elska: to love.
ACW chief executive officer Lucy Laitinen said the Elske Centre had lived up to its name for 24 years and “kept aroha at the centre of everything”.
“It’s been a home away from home for our clients – a place for companionship and joy.
“I want to thank the parish and all our staff and volunteers and the many members of the community who have supported the centre over the years.”
She said she wished clients the very best and hoped they would continue to find companions.
“We will be keeping in touch with them and we ask the community to wrap support and aroha around them.”
Anglican Care Waiapu was the social services arm of the Anglican Diocese of Waiapu.
Local services were provided under Tararua Community Services, and included counselling, social work, family support services and community events.
The spokesperson said the community service would be employing a support worker for older people who would work closely with clients to help them find other support services and community activities, as well as organising the occasional community event.
The parish was also exploring the opportunity to develop a rural chaplain role to better support rural communities.
The closure of the Elske Centre would be on June 14, with a gathering to be held for volunteers, clients and community representatives at a later date.
Laitinen said she wanted to acknowledge the strong outpouring of support for Elske clients from staff, volunteers and other members of the community.
“It has been encouraging to see their commitment to continue supporting the Elske clients, as we will through the new support worker for older people role at Tararua Community Services.”