Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Widow, 97, among ‘anxious’ residents as home set to shut
‘It is causing my mother huge stress and anxiety at a time of her life when she just doesn’t need it’
Elderly residents at a charity-run retirement home have been left devastated after learning the property is to shut and they need to move out. Bosses at Abbeyfield House in New Dover Road, Canterbury, have told occupants the building is being sold as it cannot afford to carry out “significant renovations”.
But families of loved ones living at the home say the property and its eight flats are in good order, with news of the closure leaving residents upset and stressed. Great-grandmother Dorothy Goodman had hoped to see out her days in comfort and security at the home, which provides “supported living” for about £1,550 a month.
But the 97-year-old widow has suffered anxiety since learning of the plans to sell it.
Her son, Deryck Goodman, a retired economics teacher from Wingham, said: “The home complies with all the regulations and has only just been redecorated with new carpets.
“There’s no doubt in our minds that Abbeyfield knows it is sitting on a valuable nest-egg. “It is causing my mother huge stress and anxiety at a time of her life when she just doesn’t need it.
“She has been happy and settled there for four years, having moved to be near me when my father died.
“But this is making her ill and even a doctor said her recent high blood pressure was due to anxiety.”
Lucia Xavier, from Chartham, is furious because her mother, 74-year-old Margaret Kitson, gave up her previous accommodation and sold her furniture to move into Abbeyfield House just three months ago.
“It suits her perfectly, it’s near me to visit and she loves living there,” said Ms Xavier. “But Abbeyfield must have known then that they planned to shut it and now she faces another upheaval just when she’s got settled.
“It is has come as a bit of a bombshell because she is certainly not ready to go into a care home.”
Denice Brown says her 93-yearold mum Joan Gilbert was very happy in her accommodation but is now distraught at the prospect of having to leave. “It is perfect for her because she is still quite independent and doesn’t want or need to go into a care home, said Mrs Brown
She branded Abbeyfield’s claims that the building is no longer suitable as “nonsense”. “It complies with all the regulations and the residents don’t need or want luxurious accommodation,” she said.
She also disputes Abbeyfield’s claim in a letter to families that there is no interest from new tenants.
“We know that people have been enquiring about a place because there is nothing else quite like it in Canterbury, “she said.
The Abbeyfield Society, which owns and runs the house, says the building needs “significant renovations to bring it up to market standards”, which it cannot do while maintaining a sustainable long-term service. It says it is working with the families of its four residents to help find suitable alternative accommodation and no date has been set for the closure. The families have the support of Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield, and are also investigating legal avenues to avoid residents being evicted.