I write regarding Trinity Hospital Gardens (News Shopper, August 11).

Shame on "furious" Robert Lehman for holding the view rehousing 40 elderly Greenwich Trinity Hospital residents would be "catastrophic".

What argument could support the view it is his right to live in a privileged area made up of historic buildings and elegant ex-Morden College houses and not 40 elderly residents?

Those of us who were involved in housing Merchant seamen in Trinity Hospital, when they were discharged from the Dreadnought Seaman's Hospital, remember their dislike of the stringent rules and poor accommodation on offer, preferring the Deptford halfway house.

But times have changed and under the excellent guidance of the warden, the present occupants are happy and serene and very comfortable.

Mercers' company's plan to extend this hospitality to the lucky few is to be applauded and supported.

Mr Lehman would do well to reflect on the hard times these people have endured in their lifetimes. Most of the properties in the area where he is now privileged to live, were rundown and cold. Most had only a toilet facility in the backyard and no bathroom in the house.

Most of the men worked as dockers in the 1940s when many of the side streets in the area were used for the storage of mines and ammunition, needed for the small boats to take to Dunkirk for the D-Day landings.

These are the people Mr Lehman is trying to deprive of much-needed peace and comfort at the end of their lives.

I applaud the efforts of the Mercers' company, I support it and wish it every success.

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