Nottingham City Council has reiterated its position that it is not seeking to close the Marcus Garvey Centre.
An online petition calling on the authority to ‘reverse its decision’ to close the building in Lenton has been signed by close to 3,000 people.
The building itself is operated by an independent management committee, which makes its own decisions about how it is run. The Council does not want to see the centre close, nor does it have the power to do so.
The Council is proposing to relocate its Marcus Garvey Day Service to another location in Nottingham, and will be carrying out a full consultation with the community in a few weeks to gather people’s views.
The culturally-specific service, in Lenton Boulevard, is provided by the council as day care provision for older people with dementia and disabilities – primarily from the African-Caribbean community, who have activities, support and meals.
The proposal is to move the day service from the current building to a more modern, City Council-owned facility that will benefit the community and service users.
There is no plan to end the service and transport to a new venue would continue to be provided.
Initial plans were contained within the Council’s recent budget consultation. A specific consultation exercise on the relocation of the service will again take place in late May.
Catherine Underwood, Director of Adult Social Services at Nottingham City Council, said: “We are aware that there is deep concern within the African-Caribbean community that the Marcus Garvey Centre is going to close. I want to take this opportunity to reiterate in the strongest possible terms that this is not what the Council is proposing.
“Quite aside from the fact that it is not within our gift to close the centre because it is independently-run, our proposal is only to move the day service there into another building which is more modern and where we can hopefully attract more people.
“The Marcus Garvey Day Service provides care and support for older people with dementia and disabilities. It is a valued service but currently only attracts around seven people every day. We’d love to be able to extend that number and welcome more residents along.
“We will undertake a consultation in late May and nothing will change until we have considered the views of people who use the service and the wider community. In the meantime, we have offered to meet with the centre’s committee to discuss their concerns further.”