No consultation

The parents of most of the residents died leaving their son/daughter in a great care home where they knew there would be someone there for them night or day. Will this be happening when they go in bungalows or flats I wonder?

I know it will be very hard for these handicapped people to adjust after living together for so long; you can imagine how they are feeling at the thought of moving.

As a relative of one of the residents, I feel we have not been consulted properly.

Mrs M Simpson, Ardsley House, The Groves, York.

* With reference to the article Rowntree Trust Betrays Legacy (The Press, January 15), I too have a sister in Dormary Court.

Like Mr Lund, I am becoming increasingly alarmed about her fate and that of the 14 friends she is going to lose.

I have several areas of concern. At first we, the residents’ relatives, understood there would be different types of accommodation to suit individual needs of residents. That now seems to have become one scheme for independent living for everyone.

Another question raised, was what if one of our relatives is unhappy, and/or is not coping? We were assured that they would be able to return to Dormary Court. I have recently discovered that Dormary Court is to be pulled down.

Another concern is the fact that my sister lived at home with our parents all her life until going to Dormary Court almost 25 years ago. Now, when she is well into her sixties, it is thought necessary to make her take on a completely new and uncertain way of life without trusted and long-loved members of staff and friends of many years for support. I have been told there will be carers where needed, but I was also told there would be a Dormary Court to return to.

At a time of life when people without learning difficulties are often thinking of downsizing their homes – maybe even considering homes with warden assistance, but at least consolidating their plans for a gentle lifestyle as they get older – the residents of Dormary Court have to cope with learning a whole raft of new and potentially dangerous skills to survive.

Dormary Court was the first home to be built by the Joseph Rowntree Trust, and has the oldest and longest stay residents, so why was it selected to be the first home to go? I can only say again how very worried I am.

Kathryn Margaret Branton.

Danebury Crescent, Acomb, York.

* I READ the recent exchange of views in The Press of January 15, between James Lund and John Kennedy, with great interest.

Speaking as someone whose brother is at present at Dormary and whose mother played a prominent role in the original fundraising team led by Charles Ruddock, I welcome Mr Kennedy’s assurance of significant resources. But I think he could be more open about how much exactly he intends to put down. What is to happen to Dormary? Is it to be sold?

After all, the sale of Dormary would include the grounds as well as the building and the land on which it stands. After 25 years, even in the present financial climate, the profits should be large.

Are all those profits intended to be ploughed back into the business of caring for the inhabitants of Dormary? If not, where else are they intended to go?

Again, speaking as someone who went to meetings to listen to my mother speak for funds for building Dormary and as someone who rattled a tin myself, I did it for my brother, his friends and others like them – not for Rowntree, admirable institution though I know it to be.

Roger Calvert, Darbie Close, Hartrigg Oaks, York.