A Dundee dad who lost his son to suicide has hit out at a further delay to the opening of a Dundee mental health crisis centre.
The facility is now expected to open in early 2023 – more than a year after originally planned.
The community wellbeing centre (CWC) on South Ward Road had initially been due to open in 2021 following a lengthy campaign by activists.
The opening was then delayed until March 2022, and then until August.
‘Unavoidable delays’ in Dundee crisis centre
Dundee City Council has now announced that due to “unavoidable delays” involving work at the centre and a tender, the facility will not be completed until December this year.
It is expected to be in operation “soon after that”.
Councillor Ken Lynn, chair of the city’s Integration Joint Board – one of the venture’s partners – said: “It is crucial that we get the CWC absolutely right in both terms of the building and the services it offers before the doors are opened.
“I would like to thank stakeholders from the third sector, carers and people with lived experience who have come together to bring decision-making closer to local communities and make it easier for local people to participate in this centre.
“Their input is vital to ensure that this centre offers the best help that it possibly can for people who are in crisis.”
Hillcrest, which currently occupies the building, and Dundee Voluntary Action are among the groups also involved.
Bereaved dad questions year-long delays
Phil Welsh, who lost son Lee to suicide, says the centre has been hit with “delay after delay”.
He said: “I’ve been campaigning for this since 2017 when my son took his life and it was a long fight to try and get the council to acknowledge that they would invest in a crisis centre, so once we got the news that that was happening, it was welcomed.
“We’re coming out of the back of a pandemic, the stats are still vastly high in regards to suicide and drug deaths.
“[Council leader] John Alexander is always keen to highlight that he’s aware of the situation and he isn’t shying away from it; prove it, then – let’s get behind this crisis centre and get this thing open.
“We need to ask the question, what exactly is it that’s causing the delays that have been going on for almost a year?
“I just wish this was open, simply because we wouldn’t want anybody to experience what we went through. It’s something that could potentially save somebody’s life.”
Council ‘full square behind’ crisis centre project
Mr Alexander insists the council and its partners are focused on bringing the centre to fruition.
He said:Â “This facility and the broader work is, without question, a top priority – as demonstrated by the additional funding we put into our budget just a few months ago.
“This facility is being delivered by a partnership, it isn’t the council’s building, we aren’t carrying out the works and we won’t run it.
“We do, however, have an important role in supporting and helping to deliver it and that’s what we have and will continue to do.
“We are full square behind this and ensuring that it opens to support those that need it.
“Like everyone in the city, we want to see this facility opened as soon as possible. It’ll be a vital and literal lifeline and we can’t underestimate how important this will be.”
Conversation