JOY and sadness were in equal measure at the Re:d Centre as project manager Nicola Forshaw said "goodbye".

Tearful colleagues bade her farewell on the same day that the Bury Times revealed how Bury Council had reversed its decision to halve the centre's funding.

Nicola has worked in Bury for eight years, both with Hurdles and the charity NCH, which runs the Morley Street centre for disabled children and their families. She is taking up a post as investigations manager with the General Medical Council in Manchester.

"We were quite devastated by the original decision to make cuts, and aware of how that would impact on people's lives," she said.

"What we need is more services for children; there are so many who need adequate support. While appreciating the difficulties of managing the budget, the last thing to be cut should be front line services.

"I've been unhappy about the way the situation was managed, especially in the early stages of the crisis. Decisions of this magnitude should be done with 100 per cent consultation with the families."

Nicola confirmed that the budget uncertainty had led to problems recruiting staff, which the council says was influential in its u-turn.

"People didn't know whether they would have a job. A number of staff have left five of our core team and five sessional workers. You need to have well-trained staff, it takes weeks to prepare them."

She added: "The team here have worked under such tremendous pressure and I'm so grateful to them for delivering quality services.

"The centre does what it says on the box, and I hope it can carry on to deliver the services it was charged to do."