Gurdial Singh's anger has a colourful snap to it as he bemoans the charges imposed on elderly people using day centres in Glasgow: "They have deprived us of the juice of life", he told me this week.

'They' refers to the city council and the fees of up to £75 a week introduced last year to attend day centres which were previously free. "With charges so high, I don't think the day centres can thrive," he adds.

Mr Singh, 85, was among 80 day centre users gathered for the culmination of a reminiscence project in Partick - an art project which has provided an unexpected focus for growing anxiety about the impact of fees.

Most users of day centres only the cost of their lunch to attend before. Now centres charge £15 a day plus around £3 for lunch. Those behind a new campaign say some now come for fewer days while many more have given up altogether. One worker told me numbers attending her day centre had more than halved.

Kathleen Friend, creative director of the reminiscence project The Gallus Masalamix, has spent time in nine centres: "User numbers have dropped, in some cases from 30 people a day to 10 people a day," she says. "On some days there are only 5 clients. People have lost a lot of their friends who are sitting at home instead watching TV."

The price of this is poorer health, she believes, as older people miss out on the physical activity, mental stimulation and friendships provided by day centres, while problems may not be spotted so readily.

An online petition points out that three days at daycare would now cost almost half of the average pension of £120 a week. Day centre users are calling for social care chief David Williams to meet with them, and look at whether a lower charge would lead more people to use the centres.

This is not an issue exclusive to Glasgow, of course, and the city argues that charges are higher and have been in place for longer in other parts of Scotland.

The council also points out that some still pay nothing - the charge is related to ability to pay -while those who opt out have their needs reassessed.

Tom Harris, 78, disagrees and says people are voting with their feet. "My pension goes down the Swannee right away. We're struggling," he says.

He continues to go because he is in the early stages of vascular dementia, and thinks the stimulation will help him stay well longer. But he misses his friends who have stopped going.