Run by the Alton Community Association (ACA) management committee, lack of funding has forced a major reduction in service from January 1 and the fight is now on to halt the decline and bring the provision back up to strength.
Already off to Òa flying startÓ, the appeal aims to provide Òa wake up callÓ in a community renowned for its public spirit but which, at this time of peace and goodwill, seems in danger of failing its more senior citizens.
ÒOur members are prepared to fight for the lifeline they value and need but they also need people to fight with them,Ó says facilitator, Michelle Hague who is herself one of the casualties of the cut in service.
She, along with successor, Mary Sheehan, and the Òbrilliant band of volunteers, without whom we would not surviveÓ have been battling for the past year to make ends meet but the service has now reached crisis point and they need help.
Set up four years ago to provide intermediate care for senior citizens living in Alton and the surrounding villages, the day care centre seeks to enhance quality of life.
According to Mrs Hague, it not only enables members to spend a day away from the close confines of their own home, but to meet other people and to receive mental, social and physical stimulation.
The service also provides a period of respite for carers and family.
Run by the Alton Community Association management committee, up until now the day care centre has benefited from start-up grants and donations which have enabled the service to operate on three days a week, but this source of funding has now dried up.
According to ACA chairman David Gay: ÒWe need at least £6,000 per annum for each day to operate and, as reported in the Christmas edition of the Alton Herald, one of our three days has been forced to close through lack of funding.Ó
It is a devastating blow for members who are not prepared to sit back and let the service collapse around them.
They have offered to increase their own personal contribution from £7 to £10 per session - the actual cost is £20 per member, but their ability to raise funds in other ways is limited and they are now anxious about the future.
Helen Dyble from Bentworth says she would miss the day care centre terribly if it closed. ÒIt is nice to socialise and we enjoy interesting activities and outings. I would cancel other things to come here,Ó she said.
Cliff Benjamin from Alton, who compiles crosswords for the ÒlivelyÓ group, describes it as Òthe best day of the weekÓ, a sentiment echoed by Maisie White from Holybourne who canÕt get out easily but is taken to and from the centre via the ACA minibus service.
A relative newcomer, Thomas Bambing can no longer go hiking or play bowls but looks forward instead to Òdoing new and different thingsÓ with the group, while Brendoncare resident Bee Oxley enjoys meeting different people - Òotherwise I sit in my flat all day on my ownÓ, she said.
In kickstarting the appeal, Alton Herald proprietor Sir Ray Tindle is hoping that local residents, groups and businesses will be encouraged to give the Day Care Centre the support it needs to continue.
ÒIt is such a worthwhile cause and a facility which is so obviously needed in Alton,Ó he said.
In expressing thanks on behalf of the members, David Gay said he was delighted that the Alton Herald had offered to support a campaign to raise funds for the ACA Day Care Centre for the Elderly and that Sir Ray, as the chairman of the Herald group of newspapers, had added his personal endorsement to the appeal, to give the campaign Òa flying startÓ.
ÒI hope that the people of Alton will be generous with their support to enable us to keep this very worthwhile service going,Ó added Mr Gay who says that financial assistance can be given in three ways:
A cash donation
A cheque donation
By donating all your old European notes and coins which, with the introduction of the Euro, will no longer be valid currency in their countries of origin.
There is a special donation box in reception at Alton Community Centre for cash and foreign money or you can use the appeal form enclosed herewith and send your donation in the post to the ACA Day Centre, Alton Community Centre, Amery Street, Alton, Hants GU34 1HN.