Please use this space to discuss your feelings about the potential closure of Elmbridge's care homes. Below is a letter from Paul Couchman - Chair, Elmbridge Care Homes Campaign. Please join him on Tuesday 13th October to lobby the council.

Dear Friends,

We had a brilliant public meeting on the 5th August at Molesey Football Club, with over 40 people representing staff, residents, relatives and the community. We’ve also had over 750 signatures for the petition.

But now, we’re entering the next stage of the campaign. The campaign has written several letters to the County Council and to the YMCA asking for action. But the council is still sticking with the Government’s privatisation and cuts agenda.

People power can stop it, though. The example of the workers at Orchard Lodge in Anerley, south London who are fighting against the closure of a private secure children’s home have shown that by taking a real stand can we make the Council listen to us.

So, we’re organising a lobby of the Council so we can tell our elected members directly what our community wants. It’s on Tuesday 13th October at County Hall, Penrhyn Road, Kingston, starting at 12pm and finishing at 2pm. You can download a copy of the flyer – please share it amongst your friends, or send us an email and we can send you some in the post.

We’ll be handing over our petition and encouraging residents to talk to their councillors. If you’ve not signed the petition already, please do so – it only takes a few seconds but every new name means one extra voice for decent services, publically owned, for the interests of all.

So please come along to the lobby – only a few hours of your day can mean that the residents of these three homes have a long and stable future they can depend upon.

Isn’t that worth taking a couple of hours out for?

Yours,

Paul Couchman
Chair, Elmbridge Care Homes Campaign

Hi Folks,
I'm Chris Leary, and I'm the Communications Officer for Surrey County UNISON and I'm involved in the campaign on behalf of UNISON, as is Paul Couchman, who is also our branch secretary.

I just want to clarify - the Council and the YMCA are not threatening to *close* the three homes - The Summers and Langdown in Molesey and Rodney House in Walton on Thames - but they are keen to sell them off to the highest bidder.

The successful bidder, however, is under no obligation to continue providing the services that the homes offer. That's what we're worried about.

If you want to find out more, check out the campaign's website at www.ourhomesoursay.org.uk, and the Surrey County UNISON website at www.surreycountyunison.org.uk for more information. We're currently in the process of putting together a 'dossier' on the homes and putting the case forward for 100% public ownership.

We'd also like people to sign the petition - you can do so on the campaign website, or download copies, or if you drop me an email (chris@surreycountyunison.org.uk) we'll be happy to send some out in the post.

Cheers,

Chris

Thank you very much for clarifying this, Chris. Apologies for any misunderstandings.

No worries Deryck. You can download a dossier we've produced which explains everything, and you can download it from our website.