Offer to take over MS care centre is ‘still open’

The charity plans to stop running the home, which is England’s only dedicated respite care centre for people with multiple sclerosis, and it will close in January unless an alternative buyer emerges.

This week Martyn Tilson, chairman of the Helen Ley Action Group, told the Courier that MS Respite and Care Services Ltd (MSRCS), with whom a deal recently collapsed, approached the society to say the offer to take over both Helen Ley and another home was still open but the offer been declined.

Mr Tilson said: “Despite all we have already experienced, even we are shocked that the society seems determined to go against its stated aims and shut down this vital resource. Action to reverse this must be taken.”

Phillip Connell, director of St Cloud Care, the company that oversees MSRCS, said: “This is absolutely needless. We are prepared to take over both homes and we don’t understand how the society can justify this change of position.”

Sue Farrington, the MS Society’s director of communication, information and education, said: “Since we announced that we would be closing Helen Ley and Brambles, we have received a number of expressions of interest in taking over one or both of the centres. We are assessing these proposals as a matter of urgency, but no final decision has been made.

“Until we have more definitive news, it would not be helpful to give details of these discussions.”