Ellesmere nursing home loses battle to stay open
Ellesmere Community Nursing Home, which was set up thanks to a £1 million community fundraising drive, is to close.
Trustees announced last month that the home was facing an uncertain future and they feared they were fighting a losing battle to keep it open.
This week, Ann Hartley, Shropshire councillor for Ellesmere, confirmed the home was closing and efforts were being made to relocate residents.
It is believed staff have received redundancy notices and the home will close on December 8.
The home shares the same building as the town's day centre and library, which will not be affected by the move.
"The trustees have decided to close it and I believe it will close at the beginning of December," said Councillor Hartley.
"They are working with staff and residents to find alternative arrangements.
"Shropshire Council will remain tenants downstairs so things like the day centre and library will remain open.
"The tenancy money will hopefully mean that the trustees will be able to maintain the building."
The trustees of the nursing home have been unavailable to comment on whether the nursing home will definitely close.
But speaking last month, they revealed that proposals to have some NHS-funded beds have been turned down.
"With just eight beds, the nursing home is far too small in scale to be financially viable and sustainable," trust chairman Mike Sleigh said previously.
"Over the last 23 years, it has only survived financially thanks to a combination of the very energetic fundraising by the League of Friends, the annual rent received from Shropshire Council for the ground-floor day care centre and, crucially, from a considerable number of generous bequests and donations.
"Those bequests has significantly declined in recent years and the trust has had to use up virtually all its accumulated capital reserves.
"Despite every effort to cut costs and economise, the nursing home is currently facing an annual deficit of £90,000 and with no cash reserves left, we have reached the point as a trust where we cannot continue to run it."
Mr Sleigh added the trust would continue to own and manage the property on behalf of the community, with the aim of finding a suitable alternative community use for the first-floor space.
The former cottage hospital is run by a community trust after residents helped raise about £1 million to buy the building back from the NHS, and to refurbish and equip it as a registered nursing home. The home opened in 1994 following the fundraising campaign launched after the cottage hospital was closed in 1988.
