After three years of attending craft and music sessions through the Recreation Access Project at Kent House, the doors have been closed to the service as well as the friends Brendan made.

The Recreation Access Project was a  unique Armidale service made possible thanks to $60,000 a year in funding provided by the state government. 

But in May, a handful of disabled  participants turned up to the their session to find themselves locked out.

At Monday night’s Armidale Dumaresq Council meeting Brenden’s mother Debbie Quinn and other carers took a stand against the program’s sudden stop.

MRS Quinn says Council’s director of planning and environmental services Greg Meyers told her funding was guaranteed  from the NSW Ageing, Disability and Home Care department until next July.

“The last planning meeting said that nothing would change,” Mrs Quinn said. 

“A large portion of those with an intellectual disability believed him, and are now asking, ‘how can you fix this Debbie?’.”

“They feel they’ve been lied to.”

Mrs Quinn said the state-funded services were brought to an end when the Council-employed disability worker responsible for overseeing the project finished her last day of work on May 15.

Project volunteer Kate Thomas said the worker gave notice early this year that she would have to seek other employment after her hours were cut.

“She put them on notice in February that she was looking for more work, and then gave them 3 weeks notice when she was successful in getting employment,” Ms Thomas said. 

The volunteers also claim not all of the 63 Recreation Access Project participants knew services were to be stopped  and turned up to Kent House the following week expecting activities to still be on. “The following Tuesday, Margie [another volunteer] rang me and said, ‘we’re supposed to be having craft, but no one has turned up’ and I said to her, ‘no one will be turning up because they’ve stopped it’,” Mrs Quinn said.

But Mayor Laurie Bishop said the project had to suspend its activities after the disability worker “unexpectedly quit”.

 He said the timing had unfortunately coincided with a current review into whether Council would continue to facilitate the project. 

He also said that spoken submissions from Ms Thomas were problematic.  

“The situation was the Council worker quit, giving two week’s notice right in the middle of a review process,” Cr Bishop said.

 “Words used by a couple of speakers made out that Council had abandoned the project.” 

Currently the $60,000 in state funds plus $6,000 in funds raised by Project volunteers remains in limbo until Council makes a decision at the next meeting on July 27. 

But Ms Thomas wants a resolution.

“One of the things that set us apart is we see all of us, be it volunteers or participant first, and your disability comes second,” she said. 

“Every single person on the planet needs support, there are just different levels and different ways.”