TAVISTOCK councillors and residents who are eager to revive the once thriving Old Folks’ Rest Room have launched a new campaign, which hopes to prove the ongoing need for a rest room facility in the town.

The Old Folks’ Rest Room in Duke Street was closed to its members in 2009 and has since remained empty.

A similar day centre at Harewood House which was owned by Devon County Council also closed last year.

In March 2015, hundreds of people backed a campaign by Tavistock Area Support Services (TASS) to find out what was going to happen to the once beloved building in Duke Street.

As part of the campaign, a meeting was held with supporters, town councillors and staff.

Despite attempts to re-open a similar facility, residents were left disappointed.

Maggie Hogarth, vice chairperson for the new committee said that people were particularly angry because the land for the premises on Duke Street, was gifted by the church.

Maggie also said that the current owners of the building do not wish to enter into any discussions with regards to the premises.

The premises was built by public subscription in 1952 for the use of the over 60s in the town and was leased by Tavistock Town Council, which paid a peppercorn rent to the buildings owners Huntstrete Estates — until the lease ran out in 2009.

Maggie added: ‘It was church-gifted land and public money was used to build it but the rent went up so high.

‘The day centre at Harewood House, owned by Devon County Council, also closed last year. So in effect the older people of the town had lost two facilities.

‘The Anchorage Centre is very much open and does a great deal of good work. However they are bursting at the seams and would welcome another service in the town centre that would cater for people with lower level needs — somewhere for older people to see old friends or make new ones.

‘We set the group up because we decided we wanted to do something about the fact that it had closed. Cllr Mandy Ewings (Deputy Mayor of Tavistock) is the chairperson and I am vice chair.

‘We have 283 members on our Facebook group, ‘Can we revive Tavistock Old Folks’ Rest Room’; we are planning to hold a public meeting and will be sending out a questionnaire to gather evidence about the need for a new rest room.

‘We have spoken to TASS because we would need to work with them hand in hand. We want to provide a service for people with low level needs, so that TASS can provide a service of care for people with more needs.

‘A couple of people on the committee were the people using the service before it closed. We are interested in getting it up and running and getting a message out there – the first step is to find out if there is a local need.

‘We are trying to find a premises but it needs to be in the centre of town so that people can be dropped off while their carer goes to do their shopping or get their hair done.

‘It will work in partnership with the ring and ride bus service and the restroom will be a place people can go to have a sit down and a coffee.’

Maggie said the rest room could have a range of uses from somewhere for people to leave heavy shopping or carers could leave the person they care for.

She added: ‘It would be for over 55 years and open to everyone.

‘We want this to be a safe place where people can be dropped off to meet other people. Our MP Geoffrey Cox was very involved in the past when the Cosy Café was running.

‘We are hoping nearly 500 people will respond to the questionnaire then we can draw up the percentages. We haven’t got any money but we want to prove the need for a facility like this before we apply for any grants.

‘We need to see what people think they need. There are still people living who used it and miss it terribly. This is a prime time to talk about it as a lot of older people spent Christmas alone.

‘Equally, there are a lot of people who put something on at Christmas for lonely people and in January they are back on their own again.’

Chairperson of the committee and Deputy Mayor Cllr Mandy Ewings said: ‘We have been looking to open a facility since 2009 and it is proving much harder work than we all thought.

‘I am delighted that we have got this working group together to try and revive the much needed rest room. Today, sadly more older people are living on their own than ever and the only interaction they get day to day is with a care worker who is in a rush to get around to everyone.

‘I really want to get it across that older people are lonely— carers look after these people well but they are only visiting so they don’t get to have a proper conversation.

‘Loneliness is a real issue so just having somewhere that people can use as a base would be an incredible help to many. This would be a facility in partnership with other services too –the ring and ride and TASS.’

To share your views on the Old Folks’ Rest Room, please send your letters to [email protected]