Strike Saves Central Hill Dementia Centre

Adult social care workers at the Central Hill Dementia Day Centre, Lambeth took to the picket lines to defend the service from closure. The first strike day on Thursday 14 May 2026 was rock solid, with not a single person crossing the picket line. Continuous strike action starting was called off when the Council announced the closure plans had been scrapped and people would be referred to the Centre again.

Lambeth Council had proposed the closure of the day centre and the elimination of 10 posts in the service. They wanted to move the remaining service to a room in the Aspire building which is inadequate for helping people with dementia who often have complex needs.

The Labour Party lost control of Lambeth in the local elections. Residents elected 29 Green Party councillors, 26 Labour councillors and eight Liberal Democrat councillors. The strike is the first test for the Green Party who have committed to a pro-worker, anti-austerity agenda in Lambeth. Green Councillors visited the first picket line. UNISON demanded the Green Party stopped the closure and once in charge the Greens reversed the job cuts and closure.

A ‘pilot scheme’ that saw most people referred to other services, effectively running down the service on Central Hill Estate has been stopped. Social workers had reported they had been asked not to refer to the Centre instead suggesting other community provision like libraries and Dementia cafes. Central Hill is the only dedicated day centre in Lambeth for people with dementia where their carers can also get some respite from 24/7 care, with alternative services requiring carers to be there with their relatives. All alternative options mean no break from caring responsibilities.

Both paid and unpaid elder care are taken up disproportionately by women. The gender care gap drives the gender pay gap. A UK study shows that carers in the UK have lower earnings compared to those who do not provide care. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that providing unpaid care results in an average earnings loss of £414 per month, which reaches £628 per month six years after the onset of caring responsibilities. This results in a cumulative loss of gross earnings of approximately £30,000. The effect of care on earnings is gendered too, with a yearly reduction of over £10,000 in earnings relative to men without caring responsibilities, while male carers were earning £6,800 less.

Caring for ten or more hours weekly is associated with lower odds of being in paid employment, lower earnings, poorer mental and physical health, and higher odds of loneliness and social isolation. Austerity has pushed more care onto families.

Taking a break from caring while the person you care for is looked after by someone else gives carers the chance to relax and helps to stop them from becoming run down and exhausted. We need an expansion of services which relieve responsibilities from carers.