A CLEVEDON residential home will shut this week after residents were given just two month’s notice to find somewhere new to live.

Shaw Healthcare announced in September that it would shut Cherry Orchard Care Home this month due to reducing demand for residential care.

The news caused many families to fear for the welfare of their relatives, who have all now been moved to other facilities.

Julie Baker’s 99-year-old mum Ethel Haskins was moved to Elm View Nursing Home in Moor Lane on October 29 after five happy years at Cherry Orchard. She died two and a half weeks later.

While her daughter has said she cannot praise the staff at both premises enough for the care they gave, she believes the upheaval contributed to her mum’s demise.

Julie said: “I have no complaints about the staff at Elm View or Cherry Orchard – they were all brilliant.

“The move was just so distressing and upsetting for all of the residents.

“Seeing them all go at different times meant there were lots of tears.

“Almost as soon as mum got to Elm View I think she just thought she didn’t want to be there.”

Shaw Healthcare has said it will close the Cherry Avenue facility this week but that the future of the site is yet to be determined.

However, the Times understands it is in the process of selling it to the owners of Clevedon Hall, Peter and Sally McCarthy, who were not available for comment.

In a decision document recently published by North Somerset Council regarding a deed of covenant for the site, the sale is detailed.

Its says: “Shaw North Somerset Ltd is currently in the process of selling Cherry Orchard to a Peter John McCarthy and Sally Anne Elizabeth McCarthy.”

Shaw Healthcare director Mark Heywood-Briggs said: “We have worked very closely with all residents at Cherry Orchard and their families and are pleased to say that all residents have been helped to find appropriate, and importantly, local care home placements, without the need to move back into their own homes.

“The handover process has gone smoothly and the home will now close at the end of November.

“After closure, there will be security on site until its future is determined, which it is yet to be.”