Elderly book service halted by KCC
Published: 00:00, 22 May 2008
A Rotary Club’s delivery of library books to the elderly is to stop because it has fallen foul of council rules.
For 20 years the Tenterden club has carried out the service, taking books to people in their homes.
But Rotarian Russell Parkin told Tenterden Town Council the club had been told it could no longer do this.
According to Mr Parkin, Kent County Council intends running a new volunteer service, which will also involve volunteers spending time with clients.
Mr Parkin said: “We feel quite hurt that our service that has gone on for years has been deemed to be not quite right.”
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KCC cabinet member for community services Mike Hill said: “We are trying to find a service where the elderly people have more regular contact with specific individuals and that doesn’t fit in with the pattern of the Rotary.”
Kent libraries and archives district manager Joy Pritchard said: “We are very grateful to the Rotary Club who have helped to deliver the service in Tenterden for more than 20 years, but we would like to make some changes to the service to make it more personal and bring it in line with the way the service operates in the rest of Kent.”
~For full story see this week’s Kentish Express, out on Thursday.
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