Musicians retirement home to close

12:09pm Thursday 7th August 2008

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PENSIONERS and staff are outraged that the only retirement home for musicians in the country is to close.

Ivor Newton House in Edward Road, Bromley which has been run by the Musician's Benevolent Fund (MBF) for 30 years will close by October 2009.

When the announcement was made at the home on August 5, residents were shocked. The eldest needed medical attention and paramedics took her to hospital.

The 15 remaining residents in their 80s and 90s could be threatened with eviction if they refuse to go to another home.

One of the residents spearheading the campaign against closure, 94-year-old Len Davis, said: "I have lived in Ivor Newton House since 2004 and there is no way I want to move.

"It is entirely fit for purpose as far as the residents and staff are concerned, and has always received acceptable reports from the authorities.

"I am very angry that the MBF, as a charity, is forcibly evicting people from their home at this stage of their lives."

The closure will also mean that forty members of staff will lose their jobs.

UNISON branch secretary representing the staff, Glenn Kelly, said: "This charity has demonstrated a callousness to put money before people's lives and jobs that I have not seen in many years.

"We have every intention of continuing this fight to the end".

General secretary of the Musicians' Union, representing residents, John Smith, said: "The MU is very disappointed at this announcement - it is a real shame that there will no longer be a residential home dedicated to retired musicians."

MBF Chairman, Richard Lyttelton, said: "It has become increasingly difficult to fill the home as more people seeking our support wish to go into residential care closer to where they live or near family and friends.

"As people are now staying in their own homes longer, they move into residential care when they need specialist nursing or dementia care facilities, which Ivor Newton House can not offer."

Residents and staff have over a year before the closure. The MBF will support the residents in moving to other homes.