The Social Education Centre

The Social Education Centre at Bourne became operational in January 1988 and was officially opened on 8th April of that year. The project was a joint venture between South Lincolnshire Health Authority and Lincolnshire County Council's social services department and cost £¾ million.

The aim of the centre was to provide an environment in which people with a mental handicap could be given the opportunity to participate in specially planned activities in order to learn the skills required to take their place in the community.

There was space for 77 students from a 15-mile radius and 55 were soon attending on a daily basis. The facilities included a fully equipped training flat to enable students learn how to live independently, a mobility room and art studio and a range of supporting facilities including speech therapy and physiotherapy. 

The official opening was performed by the local M P Mr Quentin Davies, then member for the Stamford and Spalding constituency, who unveiled a commemorative plaque. He said in his speech: "Many would say that a joint venture of this nature would be impossible but what we have all seen today proved what a success it is.

"This is a tremendous amenity for South Lincolnshire. Britain leads the way in community care and has done since the White Paper [government review] in 1980. Bourne should be the envy of everywhere in the western world with the equipment, facilities and dedication of the staff at this wonderful centre. The results will most surely be seen in the years to come. It has certainly been an historic afternoon for Bourne."

Thirteen years later, the centre had closed down. The authorities decided that the building had been a mistake from the outset, sited in the wrong place on the edge of an industrial estate at the corner of Pinfold Road and the busy main A151, badly designed and needing major alterations within a short time of its opening.

Local councillors said that they were disappointed that such a well-meaning project had failed so soon and that £750,000 of public money should be wasted after such a short time. Town council member and former mayor Mrs Marjorie Clark made the understatement of the year when she described the situation as "a terrible shame". 

By the autumn of 2001, the building had become an eyesore, closed and neglected, the windows boarded up, the grounds overgrown with weeds and littered with rubbish. A tattered official notice on the broken down perimeter fence announced that planning permission had been granted for the premises to be used for general industrial purposes, storage and distribution, once a buyer could be found and it has since been sold for commercial use.

Part of the service was transferred to a new day centre for people with learning difficulties which opened at stone built premises in Abbey Road formerly occupied by the radio and television business run by John Ullyatt that had been specially converted for the purpose and which was up and running by 2002. The project was a joint venture between Lincolnshire County Council and the Stamford and Bourne Learning Disability Service which operated successfully for the next ten years.

But attendance declined and the council announced its attention to close the centre in October 2011 although the decision was reversed following a public campaign and petition with 850 signatures.

Then in July 2014, even fewer people had been using the centre and Lincolnshire County Council decided that it was no longer viable. There had been no referrals in the previous 18 months and currently no attendance at all and so the authority took the obvious decision which would save them around £90,000 a year although seven staff would be made redundant, despite opposition from their union Unison.

The reasons for the decline in usage were unclear although Councillor Patricia Bradwell told The Local newspaper (July 4th) that changing times could be blamed and people were now able to access facilities elsewhere to meet their needs. “It is clearly no longer viable or financially sensible to keep it open”, she said.

REVISED JULY 2014