Santa says “Save the Walk-in Centre!”

Support for Walk-in Centre stays strong

Despite wind and rain, last Saturday’s Walk-in Centre protest was well-supported and showed how much community support there is for this valuable service. HOT’s Erica Smith reports back.

The awful weather on Saturday didn’t stop supporters of the Walk-in Centre coming together to show their support. Over 50 well wrapped-up members of the public gathered INSIDE the centre where carols and songs were sung, and people shared their concerns about losing this valuable resource – used by visitors to the town, local residents who can’t get timely appointments with their own GPs and vulnerable members of our community including street sleepers.

The 1 December date was originally chosen because we had expected a decision about the future of the centre to be announced at the end of November. This decision has now been postponed for the second time.

During the 30 minutes of the protest, the need for the walk-in centre was made clear by the high number of people coming in to use the service. One of the biggest concerns that protestors have is not just that the service should stay located at Station Plaza, but that it should remain as a walk-in service rather than being replaced by an appointment-only service.

Peter Chowney, leader of Hastings Borough Council and Parliamentary candidate for Hastings and Rye, addressed the gathering. “We all know that we need to keep this service in the town centre as a walk-in service. There are other threats to local health services – the Ear Nose and Throat service is now under threat of being moved to Eastbourne. The bigger message is that under this government, our health services are under attack – and particularly in deprived areas like Hastings. We all need to continue fighting to keep our health services, and to keep campaigning for a Labour government.”

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Peter Chowney (left), leader of Hastings Borough Council and Parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party, addresses the protest.

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