Hayfield Deaf Unit Manager, Robert Reid, likened the threat of their building being taken off them to the ‘sword of Damocles’ hanging over their heads.

He said, ‘It’s not a nice environment to work in, not knowing if we’ll be staying in the building from one month to the next.’
The Centre is a day centre for deaf adults who have additional, complex, mental and physical disabilities. Since June 2003 when the Centre’s 20-year lease expired, its lease has been renewed on a month-to-month basis. Once the Hayfield Nursery, the large building is opposite St Francis School in Gorbals.

Councillor James Mutter has twice tried to convince Hayfield to let community groups share the building said Mr Reid. But the nature of their sensitive work with very vulnerable people made it ‘totally incompatible’ to share the premises with the general public, he emphasised.

The Centre pays a token rent to Glasgow City Council but is responsible for maintaining the building themselves.  The registered charity spends around £75,000 on the building’s upkeep each year. Said Mr Reid, ‘We don’t know what the future holds for us. It fills me with dread for Hayfield’s future to know that there are functioning community groups in the area that may soon need space.’