FOR years it has offered a dedicated and professional service to the people of Swindon.

But now, in the year it should be celebrating its 25th birthday, the Well Woman Centre is set to close forever.

The centre, in Milton Road, will operate as normal until Friday, May 15, when it will shut its doors for the last time.

Marlene Wheeler, the management committee acting chairwoman, said the closure would be a sad day, not only for the dedicated team of staff and volunteers but for the many users, who will be forced to find alternative services.

“It has been a very emotional decision but the fact of the matter is that we have been using our emergency funding for the last five years and there is no longer the budget available to continue running the centre,” she said.

“I am deeply saddened by the situation, but this time closure is inevitable.”

The Well Woman Centre, which was founded in 1984 and in its present building since 1987 – has been close to closure in the past but emergency funding has always pulled it back from the brink.

But this time there is no hope of rescue after the committee failed to secure a Swindon Council grant.

And the rent on their council-owned building was increased by 22 per cent.

Both problems meant that of the £32,000 yearly costs, there was an estimated shortfall of £15,000.

Swindon’s Primary Care Trust has supported the centre where it could since 1998, when the council withdrew all funding, offering the centre the use of trained nurses and clinical supplies for two of its clinics.

Last year the trust also issued a one-off emergency bail-out grant which kept the service afloat for a further 12 months.

But a committee statement said: “Despite this support, and the best efforts of all those connected to the centre, it has proved impossible to raise all the funds required.”

Mrs Wheeler said: “What Swindon PCT did for us will never be forgotten.

“Their kind one-off grant enabled us to serve the community for another year and we are incredibly grateful.

“But we know we can’t ask for that kind of generosity again.”

Don’t blame us – council

SWINDON Council has said it has nothing to do with the decision to close Milton Road’s Well Woman Centre.

The centre’s management committee has a shortfall of £15,000 which it claims has come about after the committee failed to secure grant funding from the council.

The centre’s shortfalls have been met with the committee’s emergency funds over the last five years but there is not enough in the kitty to keep the service going for another 12 months.

That, along with a 22 per cent hike in rent for the council-owned building, means the centre has no choice but to close.

A spokeswoman for the council said: “We are sorry to hear the Well Woman Centre has decided to close.

“It is not a shortage of funds from the council that has led to this.

“We understand the centre is funded by a range of public and private sources and has been unable to secure core funding to continue its existence.

“The centre recently applied for a grant from the council for £10,479, out of an available pot of £140,000.

“Sixty five applicants applied for funds, which amounted to an application for £700,000 in total.

“As a result, a limited number of applications were successful and the centre was not one of these.

“However, last year we did give a grass roots grant to the centre for £650.

“A rent increase is due to take place as the centre’s lease has ended, and we have negotiated and agreed new terms with the centre. A rent of £4,500 a year was set in 2005 and this will now rise to £5,490 a year. However, the new rent has not been charged yet.

“In addition, we have looked at positive ways to reduce the rent by offering alternative, cheaper premises at the Health Hydro, where the centre was based.”