Parents who have been campaigning to save a respite centre met for one final time at the site which is set to close its doors next week.

Campaigners gathered on Thursday outside Nascot Lawn in Langley Road, Watford, as they promised “it wasn’t over” but it was time to “say goodbye”.

In June 2017, Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning group announced it would be withdrawing the funding for Nascot Lawn which provides nurse-led care for disabled children and a break for parents.

Nascot Lawn was initially meant to shut just four months later but parents have battled to keep it open, even winning a legal challenge earlier this year which stated that the CCG must consult with Hertfordshire County Council over the closure.

But the council did not refer the decision to the Secretary of State meaning the CCG’s initial decision stood.

Emma Turner’s daughter, 11, was a regular visitor at Nascot Lawn.

Watford Observer:

They were joined by Labour parliamentary candidate Chris Ostrowski (far left) and Cllrs Asif Khan and Nigel Bell, as well as Stephen Kingdom from the Disabled Children's Partnership

She says alternative care which will be provided at a facility at West Hyde, Maple Cross, will not be the same as Nascot Lawn.

She said: “On a social front, it may be good, but not medically. The staff will not have the same training for children with very complex needs. We battled for a long time but it was difficult to get people to hear us.

“I hope our campaign proves people should stand up and not be scared to fight.”

For example, some children have a feeding tube. However, nurse staff at alternative sites do not have the training to re-fit the tube if it were to fall out.

Nikki Lancaster’s son Lennon died when he was just ten-years-old. Lennon had been coming to Nascot Lawn for around four years and ever since his death in August 2017, Ms Lancaster has been fighting alongside others to save Nascot Lawn.

She said: “Even though I didn’t need Nascot Lawn anymore, I had time to campaign and it gave me a purpose.

“The respite centre gave us an opportunity to be a normal family while Lennon spent weekends in Watford. Other people won’t get this opportunity now.”

Disabled Children's Partnership campaign manager Stepehen Kingdom said: “It’s heart-breaking to see Nascot Lawn close, particularly after all the hard work of the parents who fought so tirelessly to save it. 

"The loss of this vital service is devastating for families and will place intolerable strains on them."

Parents were also joined by councillors Nigel Bell and Asif Khan as well as Watford Labour parliamentary candidate Chris Ostrowski.

Mr Ostrowski said: “It is an immoral decision to close the centre. It has been impossible to hold people to account. The parents led an inspiring campaign.”

A CCG spokeswoman said: “We understand the strong feelings that families affected by the decision to close Nascot Lawn have towards this respite centre.”

“What is positive is that all children, except one, have now successfully transferred to new respite care arrangements.

“All the staff at West Hyde have been fully trained to look after those children in their care who use special devices for feeding and medication.

“There have been conversations about what would happen in the very unlikely event of a feeding device falling out. So, each parent has been given the choice: of being called to replace the device themselves; for the respite service to call the children’s community nurses to do this; or for the staff at the respite centre to take the child to children’s A&E to have the feeding device replaced.”

Nascot Lawn will close on Thursday.