AN anonymous donor has stepped in with a cash gift which may save a nursing home facing closure.

Campaigners battling to keep Montgomery House in Hove have been given £30,000 to help clear its overdraft.

Care assistant Roger Owen, one of those spearheading the Action to Rescue Montgomery (ARM) campaign to save the 50-year-old home, said: "The money has come from a private individual.

"It is not anybody famous and at this stage they do not want to be identified. But it is marvellous news."

The 35-bed home in Montgomery Street, Hove, is run by the Society For Housing The Elderly In Brighton And Hove (SHEBAH), whose management committee says it is no longer financially viable.

It plans to close Montgomery House on June 18 with the loss of 35 jobs and leaving 30 elderly residents homeless.

The committee blames the low fees the state pays for each resident and high nursing costs and says the cost of upgrading facilities there was too high.

But SHEBAH has now agreed to allow staff and friends of Montgomery House a chance to save it, though it insists cash or guarantees are made to secure its future and fees will have to go up.

At the moment most residents are subsidised by the state at a cost of £325 per week. Managers want an increase to £360 a week.

They also want campaigners to produce a business plan setting out the financial future of the home, which will have to be approved by a bank.

Mr Owen said: "The guarantee of £30,000 to cover the overdraft is just the first step.

"We desperately need help, both financial and experienced input from individuals, businesses and charities with expertise in this field.

"At the moment we are trying to get hold of SHEBAH's most recent accounts to see if we can find out where the problem has been financially.

"Then they want us to come up with a business plan which will have to be approved by Barclays Bank. There is still a long way to go."

He said about half the home's 35 residents had been found alternative accommodation by family or carers.

But he said those remaining, including Louise Russell, 90, had nobody to care for them and nowhere to go if the closure went ahead.

Campaigner Bernadette Harris, of Hove Park Way, Hove, said she was thrilled by the latest move.

But it has come too late for her father-in-law Maurice, 79, who was a resident at Montgomery House. He suffers from Parkinson's Disease and needs constant nursing.

He lived there for three years but had to move out on Friday after a place was found for him at Norman Latham House in Southwick.

Mrs Harris said: "We had to move him because Norman Latham House could not guarantee to hold his place there until we know if Montgomery is definitely closing."

SHEBAH was not available for comment.

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