Ribbon cut on Irvine Unit suite

A new plaque by a door in the unit reads Marjorie's Independent Living Suite. When Town Mayor Cllr Bridget George accepted office she vowed to raise money for the Irvine Unit in memory of her mother, who was cared for there.

Before transferring the chain of office to her successor, Cllr Jimmy Carroll at Bexhill Charter Trustees' annual mayor-making ceremony at the Town Hall on Tuesday May 25, Cllr George will present a cheque to Alice Webster, head of unscheduled care for Hastings and Rother Primary Care Trust.

Until then, the Mayor will not be revealing how much money has resulted from her year of fund-raising for until that time the fund will remain ongoing.

But on Wednesday morning the Mayor cut a symbolic ribbon from across the door to what a brass plaque reveals to be Marjorie's Independent Living Suite.

When builders have completed their task, the flat will contain everything that someone recovering from a stroke or other debilitating illness requires to assess whether they are capable of living independently once more.

The new windows have a simple low-level operating mechanism.

The bathroom/toilet has every device to ensure the user's safety and stability.

The kitchen will have height-adjustable work-tops and sink for use by those able to stand or those using a wheelchair.

From the outset, the Irvine Unit was designed with the rehabilitation back into the community in mind. But over the years the ageing independent living flat became relegated to storeroom use.

It was greatly missed. Bexhill patients have had to go to Eastbourne for assessment of their ability to live independently.

Now the Mayor's timely intervention in her mother's memory has not only given the flat new life but will give new life both to in-patients and to those in need from the community.

Pauline Butterworth, the trust's intermediate care manager, said: "The flat is going to mean that we can take rehabilitation to a different stage.

"For in-patients we can use it for phased discharge. But it also means that people from the community, where therapists looking to assess moving and handling and other care can come in with their patients and use this facility.

"It is something for the benefit of the community in Bexhill and Rother."

The project has been undertaken under the aegis of the League of Friends of Bexhill Hospital, which will put the finishing touches to the scheme.

Also present at Wednesday's ceremony together with fellow Charter Trustee Cllr Stuart Wood was Alice Webster, head of unscheduled care for the PCT and Ward Sister Claire Conely.

Representing the league were its president, John Dowling, secretary Ann Dowling, treasurer Robin Barnett and committee members Peter Mitchell-Davis and Geoff Frost.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the Mayor recalled the help and kindness shown by Irvine Unit staff to her mother and to her family in general.

She hoped that people from Bexhill and the surrounding area would enjoy using the facility in a unit that was so important to the local community.