Heaps of support for new Holehird

8:14am Friday 23rd January 2004

MEMBERS of a group who are trying to raise £2.8 million to allow 24 disabled people to stay in their cherished Lakeland home say they have been overwhelmed with support, reports Michaela Robinson-Tate.

The New Holehird steering group, which was set up to try to keep the Windermere home open when charity Leonard Cheshire pulls out, hopes to announce the response to its initial plea for funds next week.

Member Malcolm Thorogood said: "I have had people phoning me all the time saying thank you, and what a wonderful job you are doing. We have had hundreds of messages of support."

Mr Thorogood said their plans had been outlined to residents: "That meeting went very well and everybody has been telling me the mood at Holehird has lifted incredibly."

The group is now hoping to hold meetings with Cumbria County Council, which manages the trust that owns the Lakeland home, and Leonard Cheshire.

MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Collins has backed New Holehird and is to visit the house on Monday to meet the group. He and other MPs are due to meet the director general of Leonard Cheshire, Bryan Dutton, next month, when Mr Collins hopes to press New Holehird's case.

He will also seek to influence CCC, which funds many of the residents to live in the house.

"I'm supportive of anything that's going to keep Holehird open," he said.

The county council issued a statement this week outlining the position of the Holehird Trust, which owns the home.

"The trust was set up to promote the health and well being of people in the former county of Westmorland. As such Leonard Cheshire occupy the building rent-free.

"Should the Holehird steering group be successful in keeping the home for its current purpose, the trust would be likely to let the building to them under the same terms and conditions."

If New Holehird was not successful, the trust would advertise Holehird for rent.

Leonard Cheshire has said it cannot afford to upgrade Holehird and its Oaklands home in Garstang to meet the Care Standards Act, and is proposing to close both and open a new home in the Lancaster or Morecambe Bay area.

CCC cabinet spokesman for care and social services Coun John Mallinson said that large residential establishments were not the "most appropriate provision" for most people with disabilities, and Holehird had specific difficulties as the building was unsuitable for adaptation to meet the new care standards.

The authority supported Leonard Cheshire's aim to "better support people with disabilities in Cumbria".

However, he said: "If the Holehird steering group are successful in their aim to keep the home open and can meet the care standards required, this will be a further option for residents to consider."

Director general of Leonard Cheshire Bryan Dutton said it was too soon to comment on New Holehird's plans, but he wanted to reassure residents that they would be "consulted frequently" about their needs and choices.