THE parents of a severely disabled Barrhead teenager have told of their shock at learning his respite centre will close just days after Christmas.

Evelyn and Robin Oliphant were devastated to discover their 15-year-old son David will no longer be offered care at Corseford Short Breaks, in Johnstone.

Mum-of-two Evelyn said it is a worrying time for the 16 families who use the centre and only found out about the planned closure at the end of November.

“I was absolutely horrified to hear the centre would be closing so soon,” she told the Barrhead News.

“Corseford closed in March and didn’t reopen until October, so families have been exhausted this year without the overnight respite service.

“We’ve now had the centre taken away again with only weeks left to go and it will now take months to find somewhere else that is suitable for David.”

Corseford Short Breaks, based in Beith Road, provides overnight care for children with disabilities, giving both the child and parents or carers a break.

Evelyn, 53, was first told the service was under threat two weeks ago, before learning it would no longer be available from the start of next year.

She said: “Corseford has been massively important in supporting David for the past few years and he loves going there.

“It makes all the difference when you have a severely disabled child and you can take him somewhere where you know the staff care about him and know what they’re doing.

“Most importantly, we can tell that David is happy there. He has a severe visual and hearing impairment, but on the way to Corseford he would smile, because he knew the road and where he was going.”

Capability Scotland said the decision to close the Corseford service has been a “difficult and sad one.”

A spokesperson added: “Over a number of years, we have experienced significant operating losses at the service and, despite our best efforts, have been unable to make it break even.

“The number of children and young people accessing the service has been reducing and we were only supporting a small number of families in recent times, well below the service’s potential capacity and limiting our ability to generate sufficient income and growth to make the service sustainable.

“We acknowledge the importance of this type of service to families and, as we explained in our communication with them, we continue to be open to exploring alternative forms of respite on an individual basis now and in the future.”