Ex-Service home set to close

Lack of funding and a drop in the number of residents has left the home's owners, the Ex-Service Fellowship Centres charity, in severe financial difficulties and trustees have proposed to close Hollenden House.

The 29 residents and 31 staff of the large Buckhust Road property have been informed that closure may be the only option when trustees meet to decide the fate of the home on May 8.

They are being invited to make alternative living arrangements in the event the home does have to shut and staff are offering to help find placements. Ex-Service Fellowship Centres administrator Maurice O'Dea admitted in March it would take a 'miracle' to keep Hollenden House open into the next financial year. The home has capacity for 65 residents but at the moment only caters for 29.

He said on Tuesday: "Closure will be a sad, sad, sad outcome but I believe it is inevitable and I can't tell you how sorry we are. We're a tiny charity and cannot go on losing money year on year like this. It would bankrupt us.

"We've been perfectly honest to residents and staff all along and it would be wrong to keep them in the dark. It's not a foregone conclusion but I fear it is inevitable.

"Assuming the worst as I must the residents will be given all possible assistance in finding new homes "

Retirement flats in Whitworth Court, which are owned by the same charity, will not be affected. If Hollenden House does close it will be the latest in a long line of Bexhill care homes to fold in recent years including Southwinds and Haldane House.

Mr O'Dea said it was too early to say what would happen to the large property in the event of closure.

He added: "If we were business men we would say it's a great opportunity for us to cash in and secure our financial future.

"But we are a charity and not businessmen and our prime consideration at the moment is the welfare of our staff and residents. We are doing our utmost to help them.

"They are understandably quite angry and the last thing we want to do is make life difficult for them.

"Decisions about the future of the building will be made later and we have no plans at the moment."

The Ex-Service Fellowship is based in Grosvenor Place, London, and also owns a hostel for ex-service personnel.

Mr O'Dea says unrealistically low care fees paid by East Sussex County Council are another reason for Hollenden House's financial problems.

The county council has announced an increase in the fee it pays from 239 a week to 256 to close the gap with neighbouring authorities but Mr O'Dea says that's still not enough.

He added: "It's caused us a great deal of anguish but the truth is it's become financially impossible to run the home."

Hollenden House was opened in 1946. It was originally the Loretto Convent but was requisitioned by the Army during the Second World War. A new wing was built in 1967 and in 1997 a 65,000 amenities suite was opened.