Concerned Marlow residents are set to ramp up their efforts to prevent the town’s children’s centres being closed.

Councillors and Marlow mayor Jocelyn Towns will join campaigners at a meeting on Saturday to discuss what the future holds for the under-threat centres in Foxes Piece and Sandygate, with councillors suggesting the proposed hub in Castlefield, High Wycombe, be moved to Marlow instead.

Marlow mums Lucy Day and Helen Vidler, from Save Buckinghamshire’s Children’s Centres campaign group, will meet with Cllrs Alex Collingwood and David Watson, who represent Marlow at Bucks County Council, as well as Cllr Towns and Alka Dass, who has been a key figure in leading the fight against the closures.

Cllr Collingwood is hoping for residents and “other interested parties” such as GP surgeries, the health centre, local churches and the town council, to form an action group.

Lucy, a mum-of-twins who has been using the centre, said: “We feel very strongly as does the community as a whole, that Marlow needs to keep its centre and current provision rather than downgrading to a hub. 

“The Marlow centre is a well-attended and very valued part of our community and appears to attract a good proportion of the community who are vulnerable or struggling.

“We are all very keen to keep it as a children’s centre and feel strongly it is important to keep this service in Marlow itself. 

“I am aware some areas of Marlow are wealthy there are plenty of areas which are not, especially when families may have to go down to one or no wage to care for their babies and toddlers at home.

“This meeting is very important for us as we want to be able to work together to see what can be done and are grateful for the support.”

Helen, who uses the centre at Foxes Piece with her two children, said it had been “vital” to her wellbeing and mental health after suffering from post-natal depression.

She said: “The staff at the children’s centre, run a unique session with Bucks Mind providing support to mums and dads with a variety of issues who need support in coping with difficult situations.

“I realise that this may already be provided by the hub model but the fact is that we do not want to lose our children’s centres, the staff or the other services that may disappear.

“It is so important that there is somewhere for parents to go and talk about issues. At the moment Marlow have not even been mentioned in plans so where are we supposed to go?

“I am hoping this meeting will give us some clarity.”

The new early help service will see nine teams of lead family workers working in community settings across the county, including people’s homes, which bosses say will save the council more than £3 million over four years.

The team bases will replace seven of the existing children’s centres along with the remaining two areas – Quarrendon and Buckingham – currently being assessed for “appropriate locations”.

Cllr Collingwood said the “battle” to keep the children’s centre was “already lost” but to “win the war” the community would need to come up with a “credible” solution to keep children’s services in Marlow, adding that one option being discussed at the meeting would be to move the hub from Castlefield to Marlow.

He said: “Users from Marlow would have to take at least two buses to get to Castlefield. 

“People in Castlefield will already have two other hubs to choose from in High Wycombe.

“There is more of a need for this in Marlow. It is going to be too difficult for people to get to Castlefield from Marlow and the surrounding areas.

“The hubs will not replace the services that are already being offered as it would be too costly. But if they needed to hold any surgeries for whatever reason it would make it easier if there was a hub in Marlow.

“The community has to come up with a credible plan within the next six months or Bucks County Council will go ahead with what they’ve decided.”

Mrs Dass said: “We have been providing support in meetings and in the background to the mums of Marlow and other areas to ensure they know who to approach and what to do, however these ladies have been very active in ensuring they speak to the their local Councillors and the Mayor with the aim of saving their children's centre.

“Jocelyn and both councillors have shown great support and it is a good first step that we are able to sit down and discuss how we can keep the centres open in Marlow. 

“Children's centres are vital to everyone irrelevant of backgrounds and it is important that we all speak to our local councillors to see what they can do.”