Campaigners are appealing to the people of west Cumbria to keep a vital service in local hands.

A petition has been set up to fight a county council decision which will see a London-based charity take over from Copeland’s Howgill Family Centre to provide child and family support services.

County council chiefs have awarded the contract for family services to national charity Family Action, but the decision has been ‘called in’ amid concerns.

Angela Greasley, who owns Tot Spot play centre in Whitehaven, launched the online petition, which has already been signed by nearly 2,000 people. She says it would be “devastating” for west Cumbria to lose Howgill’s services.

“People know Howgill and trust familiar faces. They have been here for decades. There’s no high turnover of staff. The same people are running the groups. It’s consistent. The range of services they offer are second to none. “There’s a huge amount of services we don’t know what’s going to happen. I think if this service was to change the staff must stay the same. People will not trust strangers. It’s not a quick fix.”

Angela is urging people to show their support by signing the petition. “I’m hoping to get 2,000 signatures. It costs nothing to put your name on a list. We need to keep this service.”

Holly Palmer, 29, from Whitehaven, has a long-standing relationship with Howgill and is now a volunteer.

“My mam used Howgill’s services when I was a baby nearly 30 years ago. I started using Howgill when my daughter was born. She’s 19 months now. The baby services are fantastic. They are all free. They got me out of the house with a newborn. I went to breastfeeding classes and they got me through. Without Vicky Boyle I would have given up. I now volunteer as breastfeeding peer support.”

Holly said she was concerned how the change would affect staff and families.

“I’m really upset and uneasy about the whole situation. It would be a shame if they were to lose or re-apply for their jobs because they do such an amazing job.

“A London company doesn’t know this area well enough. If they do takeover I hope they will keep the staff to keep some consistency for the families. They would be frightened to come in and not know the staff. These people from cities have no knowledge of rural areas. A lot of families have been coming for years and years. They know the staff really well and put a lot of trust in them.

“We need to get as many people signing the petition as possible. We want to save Howgill. It’s such a brilliant service for everybody in West Cumbria. We want to keep it going and for staff to keep their jobs.”

n To sign the petition, go to: www.change.org/p/cumbria-county-council-overturn-the-decision-that-removes-family-services-from-howgill