I would be grateful if you would print my letter in your newspaper. This is because I would like your readers to realise that although things might appear a bit quiet regarding the eight homes for the elderly that are threatened with closure, we the residents are still living under sufferance, and are very very upset.

We now hear that the social services nave brought in someone new to help the director close our homes a bit quicker, and we cannot understand it all. I mean, the information we have all been given states quite clearly that there is no rush at all to close these homes.

They have given us up to seven years to have any alterations done, so what are the social services and Mr. Bancroft doing? They are even bringing in new people to help the closures be done quicker than ever, what is going on? The social services are saying that one of the main reasons we are closing is because there is not enough people in them. Well that is obvious, because I know of at least three people that were turned away from Ashfield House by the social services, and my friends in other homes say it is the same in them all.

People have been stopped from coming into the homes by the social services themselves, and that was done about a year ago. So of course they will not be full, it goes without saying it doesn't it!

I cannot understand it all, and I am very depressed, why is everybody in such a rush to ruin our lives? We know now that the homes will have to be altered, or even closed eventually, but not yet for goodness sake.

Surely now that the government has given them all that time, they cannot justify this mad dash to close our homes. So I hope these people in the social services, who must be costing the country a fortune in salaries, jut stop the rush and start letting people in our homes again instead of banning them.

Our homes are lovely, as is the staff; we will never get bigger, or better in the private sector, so please leave us alone for a while.

Doris Thompson

Resident of Ashfield House