A POPULAR day centre for mental health patients will close later this month because there is no money to keep it going.

Basildon Mind has announced Valerie Lodge, in Pitsea High Road, will shut on Friday, May 22.

The wellbeing centre, which runs a range of activities and support groups, welcomes more than 300 visitors every month.

A campaign was launched last month to try to save the facility after the Echo reported it was under threat because of NHS funding changes.

Sheila Chesney, chief executive of Basildon Mind, has worked for the charity since 1989.

She said: “We’re absolutely devastated. Financially, it is just not viable to continue. We’ve always provided a day service, and there isn’t really anywhere else for out service users to turn.

Valerie Lodge has been a real safety net for a lot of people.

“I think it’s very short-sighted to cut our funding. This will have a tremendous impact on other services, including hospitals and the police. A lot of people who have used our service in the past have written to me to say it saved their lives.”

Eight staff have been told they will lose their jobs. It is thought the charity has lost as much as £160,000 a year in funding because of NHS changes.

From the beginning of April, Basildon and Brentwood Clinical Commissioning Group earmarked personal health budgets for each mental health service user. This means individuals have more control on how the money allocated to their care and recovery is spent, but community facilities are losing out.

The Basildon Mind centre in Whitmore Way, Basildon, which offers one-on-one counselling sessions, will remain open.

Members and volunteers have been invited to a meeting at Valerie Lodge at 1.30pm today to find out more.

TomAbell, chief officer at the commissioning group, said: “We have been working with voluntary sector providers, including Basildon Mind, for the last 18 months, supporting them to develop their services in readiness for the move to personal health budgets, and this work is continuing. Our door remains open to discuss the sustainability of Valerie Lodge with Basildon Mind and we are attempting to arrangeameeting with them to discuss this.

“The decision to close Valerie Lodge was taken by Basildon Mind. Other local mental health day service providers, including other Mind branches, have taken a different approach towards the change to personal health budgets, developing their services and identifying new funding streams.”