But there can be few sadder sights than the doors of the Learning Link adult learning centre at Sidley closing.
The centre was a practical means to assist people in what is acknowledged as one of the most socially deprived wards in the country to break out of the poor education-poor job prospects cycle.
Since its opening it has provided a major service to the Sidley community and beyond.

Those who have taken advantage of its facilities have benefited immeasurably.
Equally importantly in some respects, the adult learning centre stood as a symbol of Sidley's renaissance, a proud beacon of hope, a key element in the chain of positive improvements that the go-ahead and enterprising Sidley Community Association had achieved.
Rightly, this influence for good was acknowledged only last week by the acclaim given to association chairman John Izzard at the Bexhill Achievers Awards ceremony.

Nothing can detract from John Izzard's record of service to Sidley as the leader of its hard-working community association team – certainly not the loss of the adult learning facility for which he had campaigned so hard and for the survival of which he has been fighting so vigorously.
Rather, the loss of the centre sends a warning signal to the rest of the town.

We live in an age where it is possible for those community groups which are switched-on to the funding processes of the times to obtain the means to set up valuable community assets.
But too often – as now – that funding ends once its source has basked in the publicity spotlight of having helped establish the facility.
The principle, of course, is that central sources provide the "seed corn" and it is then up to the community organisation to find the means to sustain what has been created.

The practical reality is that even in good financial times this is a precarious process.
In times of financial crisis it is well-nigh impossible.

So, what do we have at Sidley today?
A facility which owed its genesis to energetic community enterprise and the investment of public funds now stands empty and idle at a time when, arguably, it is needed more than ever.
Where is the economic rationale for that?
Worse, if other funding cannot be found will Sidley Young People's Centre – equally needed and the result of YEARS of campaigning – follow suit and close its doors?

At a time when billions are being spent on wars which are of questionable value in the fight against terrorism, failure to sustain key elements in lifting the home social fabric above deprivation level appears ill-judged and unbalanced.
Add to this the millions sitting unused in the Lottery's coffers and Sidley's plight becomes a scandal.