Parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are to march on the headquarters of Perth and Kinross Council to demand cash for a closure-threatened support group.
Perth and Kinross ADHD Support Group costs around £40,000 a year to run and families fear the self-funded service will have to stop unless the local authority offers financial support.
Founded in 2002, the group helps almost 200 parents and children from across the country cope with the symptoms of the condition, which can include hyperactivity and impulsiveness.
Manager Lorna Redford, a former family worker and founder member of the group, said: “I’ve always been one for doing things properly but it just got to the stage we didn’t have any money, so about four weeks ago I just said to the parents to do whatever they think is right.
“It’s not about local authority bashing, because we have to work with these people, but we get no support at all from them. If we could get £3,500 a month we could provide a top service.”
Ms Redford describes the rally as a “parent-led, peaceful march”, which she hopes will persuade the council to provide “sustainable support”.
Nicola Foley, 42, is a mother-of-two and her eight-year-old son has the condition. She said: “We feel incredibly let down by the council. Over the last 10 years they have given this group £7,000. There are a lot of other mental health charities that receive a lot more money from the council.
“I just feel they’re not taking this seriously enough. We’ve all been through hell because of their neglect. We’re not holding a grudge against them, we want to work with them, but they have to realise what a valuable service this is. We’re going to go under otherwise.”
Parents on the group’s steering committee currently have to organise fundraisers to pay the salaries of two members of staff.
Pamela Thomas, 32, who has two teenage sons with ADHD, explained: “We do bag-packing, quiz nights, just anything we can raise funds through.
“This support is vital to us. It’s all we have. Our children get given medication and that’s it. It’s very scary for parents.”
The office is manned three days a week and staff offer informal support, as well as structured workshops, but services have already been hit.
Georgina Taylor, 33, who has two children with ADHD, said: “We’ve had to cancel the kids’ group recently because there is not enough money.”
Nicola Foley added: “The problem is ADHD is on the increase. We’re getting more and more referrals every week and we can’t cope with it.”
The parents have started a petition calling on the council to provide cash which has already attracted 250 signatures.
Families will present it to officials at the local authority’s High Street headquarters after marching from Pullar House next Tuesday at 11am.
Nicola Foley said: “We’ve had enough and we need to do something about it. They promised us £10,000 when they found out we are going to do this march, hoping that it will make us go away.”
Pamela Thomas added: “It’s not enough. It will only last for three months. We need sustainability and we won’t be swept under the carpet.”
A spokesman for Perth and Kinross Council said it spends £13 million a year on services for children with supported needs and £3.5m on Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with charities.
“The council pulled together available resources to offer a grant of £10,000 to the charity, in the hope that this would resolve its immediate financial difficulties and allow it to move forward,” he said.
“As well as the immediate financial support offered, a further lengthy discussion took place with a head of service about how the council can help the group develop a more strategic approach to securing ongoing funding, by ensuring the services offered are in line with required local and national outcomes.”
He added: “Given the financial assistance and other support offered by the council to this charity, we are very disappointed to hear that they now are planning a protest.”