R&R Life News
Hopes high for imminent reopening of Horley's Brambles MS centre
2:59pm Tuesday 31st January 2012
Hopes are high for the imminent reopening of Horley's acclaimed Brambles Respite Care Centre for people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
Staff are said to be “on standby” for the reopening of the centre in Suffolk Close, which is being transferred from the management of the MS Society to MS Respite and Care Services Limited.
It had been hoped The Brambles would re-open to MS sufferers and their carers and families at the beginning of the year.
But though the centre, widely regarded as one of the best of its kind in the country, is still shut, the MS Society has said the transfer, saving The Brambles from closure, is still going ahead and expected to be completed soon.
Once contracts have been exchanged, the building could re-open in a matter of days.
A spokesman for the MS Society said: "Although we are yet to exchange contracts with MS Respite and Care Services Limited to transfer Brambles into their ownership, we are very close to doing so, and are optimistic that we will have positive news soon.”
The spokesman said: “Our staff are on standby so that within five working days of exchange, Brambles can reopen to guests.
“In the meantime, we are taking the details of anyone expressing an interest in staying at the centre and will contact them directly once we have any news."
The Brambles announced its temporary closure last November, having struck an 11th hour deal with MS Respite and Care Services Limited, an associated company of St Cloud Care plc.
The centre was due to shut its doors permanently at the end of last November after more than 20 years helping thousands of people with MS and their carers and families.
The state-of-the-art complex, which offers 24-hour care for people with MS and a much-needed break for their carers, had been under threat of closure since the MS Society withdrew its funding in June 2010.
The society made efforts to find an alternative care provider to take over the running of The Brambles, but announced last autumn that its talks with MS Respite and Care Services Limited had fallen through.
Arrangements were being made to close the centre, with redundancy talks taking place and letters being sent out to the people who used it, when the MS Society announced that it had reached a last-minute agreement with MS Respite and Care Services Limited.
A spokeswoman for the MS Society said under the agreement, The Brambles would close temporarily while the two parties worked together to agree precise terms and discuss detailed transfer arrangements, but it was hoped contracts could be exchanged in mid-December, allowing the centre to re-open to guests in the first few days of January.
That transfer has taken longer than expected.
A statement on The Brambles website this week said Heads of Terms had been signed at the end of November, and extensive work undertaken to prepare for the transfer, with the centre's staff transferring to the employment of the new owners under the arrangements.
Philip Connell, director of MS Respite and Care Services Limited, said: "We are pleased with the progress being made towards completion of the transfer of Brambles.”
Mr Connell said: “All necessary funding is now in place with the MS Society’s solicitors, and work on agreeing contracts is progressing well.
“We are excited to be working with the MS Society towards successfully concluding the transfer."
The transfer is part of an over-all programme of work which has already seen Leuchie House in Scotland and Woodlands respite care centre in York transfer to new providers.
Work is ongoing to also transfer the Helen Ley centre in Warwickshire.
The MS Society took the decision in 2010 to move away from directly providing respite care services at its four centres, to allow it to focus on enabling people across the UK to access respite and short breaks that are right for them, wherever they live.
The MS Society is the UK’s largest charity dedicated to supporting everyone whose life is touched by MS, providing a freephone helpline (0808 800 8000), specialist MS information and funding more than 70 MS research projects in the UK.
MS is the most common disabling neurological condition affecting young adults and an estimated 100,000 people in the UK have the condition.