REGARDING the possible future of the Mind Centre in Blackburn (LET, September 20), I hope to goodness that the people of Blackburn and Darwen never fall ill with mental health problems because this government and the council do not want to help.

I and up to 60 mental health service users attended, daily, a resource centre at Mount Pleasant at Larkhill in Blackburn, which is run by Social Services.

The centre was closed as a 'drop-in' last January and is now being run for around 10 users, daily, for "courses." Where have all the other users ended up?

I went through mental ill health in January and ended up being referred to the mental health day unit at Queen's Park Hospital, three days a week. This gave me help and the confidence to get my life back.

Little does the media tell you, though, as Blackburn Infirmary "amalgamates" with Queen's Park, that the day hospital is closing down for out-patients and another vital service lost.

We all realise that government papers support the need for modernisation and change in line with current working practices and any change brings with it in securities but at whose cost?

Please, for the sake of all the people of Blackburn and Darwen, who have had or will have mental health problems, can a solution to the problem of the charity's funding be sorted and the Mind Centre saved.

S PARKINSON, Henry Whalley Street, Mill Hill, Blackburn.