Former staff at a Gerrards Cross care home have been left 'heartbroken' after scores of residents were moved hundreds of miles away following its closure.
As previously reported, Leonard Cheshire Homes announced plans to close Chiltern House, a disability services care home, and to sell the building on Packhorse Road last September as part of an ongoing restructuring plan following financial difficulties.
Despite a spirited campaign and a well-attended protest held by residents and staff of Chiltern House last autumn, the home officially closed this month (February 2024).
Kymberley Cahill, a former care worker who spearheaded the protest against the closure, said the last resident moved out of Chiltern House on Tuesday, February 13, adding that she had been "heartbroken" to see them go.
Linda Walton, who ran activities at the home with Kymberley, said she had been disappointed by the wide dispersal of former residents, some of whom had been moved to "less appropriate" facilities over 100 miles away.
"Our residents were all disabled adults over 40 years old, but they weren't elderly and there were only 22 of them, so it felt like a family. Quite a few people have been moved to large units with others of all ages, and one lady has been sent to Chester, more than a hundred miles from almost everyone she knows.
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"Some of them have already settled quite well, but Chiltern House was unique in that it was inside a town and had a real sense of community. I know one or two people who are definitely in the wrong place now, but there's not much we can do. It's a desperately sad situation."
Chiltern House opened in Gerrards Cross in 1988, catering for middle-aged adults with disabilities and offering them a fresh lease on life, fostering friendships and engagement through a range of activities including swimming and dinghy sailing.
Speaking last autumn, Mark, a 56-year-old resident who moved into the home in 1998 after sustaining life-changing injuries from a scuba diving accident, said he was "tearful" at the prospect of Chiltern House closing.
Mark, who has now been moved to a Leonard Cheshire home in Hitchin, said: "I think there's a big gap in the care sector for middle-aged people. It's a real worry about what will happen in the future because there are a lot of facilities that are focused on elderly and dementia care, but I wouldn't want to be in a place like that."
A spokesperson for Leonard Cheshire told the Free Press that the closure was due to "long-term trends" which meant they could "not justify the long-term financial commitment necessary to modernise the service".
The residential care charity, which has around 130 bases across the UK, first came under fire for suddenly closing 17 homes in 2018 after selling them to other care providers.
However, Chiltern House residents were told the home would not be sold to another provider despite staff claiming to be aware of interested buyers.
Leonard Cheshire has been contacted for comment on the future of the site.
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