We the undersigned believe that Seeleys House in Beaconsfield is special. For its clients Seeleys House is not just a building, it is a caring and secure environment with staff who know and understand them. We are dismayed by the proposals in Buckinghamshire County Council's  Having a Good Day consultation document for replacing existing Day Centres by ‘hubs’ and ‘satellites’ catering for a wide range of clients.

Our overriding concern is to ensure that the clients of Seeleys House get the opportunities they deserve in facilities that are fit for purpose. We believe that they get that at Seeleys House, both in the Day Centre and in the Respite Unit.  However we have great reservations about ‘hubs’ catering for clients who are physically disabled, for clients who have learning difficulties, for clients who have dementia and for clients who are mentally ill. We believe that in order to provide a safe and stimulating environment for Seeleys’ clients (and for others) the hubs and satellites would have to be substantially larger than the baseline concepts shown so far. 

We believe that there is scope to develop the Seeleys site in a way that complements and builds on the excellent work that is done at Seeleys, maintaining and developing existing relationships between clients, staff and families. Therefore we ask that there should be a rethink – develop Seeleys, don’t destroy it.

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