'Help us to save our home' residents say as care home for adults with learning disabilities faces closure

A care home for adults with learning disabilities in West Sussex could be closed, and now residents are calling on members of the public to help.

HFT Sussex, in Walberton, is facing closure later this year, after West Sussex County Council announced it could not keep up with rising costs.

At risk of losing their home, the 23 residents, alongside family and friends, have started a petition urging county council officers to rethink their stance. Many of the residents have lived with HFT for more than fifty years, and believe it is the only service capable of helping them live life on their own terms.

Starting on September 2, the online petition already has more than 1,500 signatures, with plenty of vocal support. "We are not just losing a home and our family we are also losing our day service. Our home and our day services create our structure and routine. it’s getting increasing harder for us to have a voice and say in our own lives,” the petition’s organiser wrote.

West Sussex County Council has confirmed the role rising costs had to play in the decision to close: “the council also has a duty to ensure value for money from public funds and to work with the care market to support people to live as independently as possible within the community in line with our adult social care strategy.”

A HFT spokesperson added that the closure was a ‘last resort’ for the charity, and staff are working to help residents transition to new locations: "Sadly, the ongoing financial challenges, including fee income, at Walberton means we will continue to make a significant loss at the service. Over the last year, we have incurred a shortfall in funds in excess of one million pounds at Walberton. There is no realistic prospect that this will improve in the future.”

Even so, the petition organiser says residents do not want to be moved to another part of the UK. They feel settled in Sussex and don’t want to lose touch with lifelong friends: “They should not be treated with such a throw-away attitude as this. Who would want their whole life turned upside down in this way? West Sussex County Council need to get behind this and provide the necessary support to keep it open,” they said.