Campaigners who have worked tirelessly to save the homes of their loved ones have released a statement upon the news that Kirklees’ dementia care homes will be staying open.
Today (February 1) Kirklees Council announced that its two dementia care homes – Castle Grange at Newsome and Claremont House at Heckmondwike – that were previously earmarked for closure have been saved from the axe. The council received a great deal of opposition upon announcing the plans as one of the measure to help remedy its financial predicament, and a campaign group was formed.
The campaigners, many of whom have relatives living in the care homes, attended meeting after meeting, making heart-wrenching deputations, pleading with the council to save the homes from closure. They consistently spoke highly of the level of care they had witnessed across the two homes and feared the consequences should their loved ones have to move.
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A spokesperson from the Save Our Kirklees Dementia Care Homes Campaign said: “The families of both these homes alongside friends and the extended ‘Stop the Closures’ group have campaigned since September 2023 (upon receiving notice of the proposal to close) to keep these homes open. We have done this because these are our loved ones’ homes, homes in which they are well cared for, happy and above all safe. Homes which should be celebrated and championed, not dismissed, and sold off.
“We did this because we knew moving our loved ones would cause detrimental decline and shortening of their lives. We did this because they had lost their own voices because of the terrible illness that Dementia is. They needed us to speak for them as all loving communities and families would.
“As a campaign we acted as one, we aimed to campaign robustly but with dignity and fairness at all times.
“We would like to share our gratitude to all friends of the campaign, with a special thank you to Andrew Cooper a local councillor who stood by us, Mike Forster and Tanisha Bramwell (‘Stop the Closures’ campaign organisers), Irwin Mitchell (Legal Representation) and Avalon Rawling, for their advice and insight.
“We are relieved that Kirklees has listened to us and after reviewing all the evidence received as part of the consultation has taken the correct decision.
“As families we can now use the precious time we have left with our loved ones as we should have been doing for the past five months.
“Many relatives have shared their initial horror and despair when the news about the proposed closures was first revealed, and this led to a coming together and substantial fight. The campaign has held rallies, participated in a march, held its own public meetings, and put forward repeated deputations to council with an aim of holding them to account and demanding an in-depth and robust consultation process that ensures scrutiny and relevant research to fully consider the impact on residents, families and the wider community.
“We have won. they found another way!”
Cllr Andrew Cooper (Greens, Newsome) who has been vocal on the issue, said: “I’m really pleased for the families of residents at Castle Grange and Claremont House who have campaigned so hard to save these dementia care homes from closure.
It has been a really distressing time for them and they have campaigned hard to ensure the voices of their relatives have been heard.
I would like to thank Kirklees Council for finding a way to ensure that some of the most vulnerable people in our community are able to stay in their home.”
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