News

Knitting group’s ‘lifeline’ at risk amid cuts to library opening hours

By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter

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Members of a knitting and talking group fear their ‘lifeline’ is at risk ahead of planned cuts to the opening hours at a library they are based at.

The Knit and Natter group currently meets at Southglade Park Library, which will soon have its opening hours slashed from 35 hours per week to just 16 under Nottingham City Council’s recently approved budget cuts.

The Labour-led council said it needed to cut just over £1.5m from its libraries service over the next two years in a bid to become more financially sustainable.

However, members of the group say the reduction in opening hours means they will have to hold their meetings on a different day of the week, leaving some unable to attend.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service attended one of the group’s get-togethers on Thursday (July 24), during which members had a knit and a natter over cake, biscuits and a hot drink.

The group has received dozens of “thank you” letters from various city organisations, including Nottingham University Hospitals’ Hayward House specialist palliative care unit, for which members have knitted various items of clothing for patients and their family members.

But many now fear they will lose their lifeline.

One member said she will be unable to attend due to care arrangements for her husband, while others feared the reduction in morning and early-afternoon hours will leave them vulnerable when travelling home later in the winter months.

Theresa Jones, 72, who travels from Mapperley on a bus, said: “Socially it gets you out of your house when you live on your own.

“We are meeting other people, joining each other’s projects, [helping] if someone has got a problem with their knitting.

“But it is not just that – if someone has got a problem at home, they have got somebody to talk to. It is an outsider’s view. Sometimes people are too close to you when you want to talk about things. You need somebody different, a different perspective.

“It’s not just Knit and Natter; there are all the other things that go on here as well that just seem to be shoved to one side so the council can make a cut.

“There is somebody because of family commitments that won’t be able to get here at all. There are others that travel on buses, and if the hours are later in the afternoon, which they are talking about, do you really want to go home on a bus on a dark winter’s night?”

New member Margaret Smith added: “The group means a lot to me. Before I used to stay at home a lot. I suffer from mental health issues, so coming here has brought me out of my shell.

“There are people who are carers and they won’t be able to come anymore. Sometimes I look after my daughter’s dog.

“It will be a shame. I am sure they can do the cuts somewhere else.”

The new opening hours are expected to apply in August.

Cllr Georgia Power (Lab), who represents Bestwood, handed a petition to her council’s leadership at a meeting of Full Council on Monday, July 14.

She said members use their gatherings as a “respite from a cruel world, a lonely house, and dementia”.

The petition called on the council’s leadership to reconsider how the hours are distributed throughout the week so they can continue to meet on Thursdays.

Many worry they will have nowhere else to go if the changes are not stopped.

Nottingham City Council has been contacted for comment.