ORAC
1st Jul 2002, 13:32
July 01, 2002
RAF care homes may shut to solve cash crisis
By Claire Hu
HUNDREDS of former RAF men and women face being made homeless because the organisation that looks after them is more than £3 million in debt.
The Royal Air Forces Association operates ten residential and respite homes caring for more than 300 former service personnel. The association, formed in 1930 to look after those who had served in the First World War, has breached its £3 million overdraft and needs to cut costs.
It is selling its London headquarters in Chiswick and has closed St David’s House in Brecon, with the possibility of others to follow. The news is said to have shocked the Duke of Edinburgh, the association’s patron.
In today’s RAF News, Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Stear, the association’s president, blames the crisis on mismanagement and the failure to act on warnings given ten years ago. He said the association had been warned by its bank urgently to dispose of assets. He blamed the failure ten years ago to cut down on administration and membership costs.
The association had been pushed financially “over the edge” by the opening of a new respite care home, St David’s House, and a project to look after mentally ill members.
Sir Michael said the association had turned to the RAF’s own benevolent fund for financial help and it had brought in a firm of accountants. The financial health check revealed the association would have to consider the future of its residential homes, he said.
Sir Michael said the association was so short of money that spending had been restricted “to only that which we are legally bound”.
A review is being carried out of its finances and “cost-cutting measures and a thorough review of the financial performance of our other homes”.
The association has 100,000 members and operates 600 branches. It is not known where members being looked after in residential homes would be moved if homes were shut.
RAF care homes may shut to solve cash crisis
By Claire Hu
HUNDREDS of former RAF men and women face being made homeless because the organisation that looks after them is more than £3 million in debt.
The Royal Air Forces Association operates ten residential and respite homes caring for more than 300 former service personnel. The association, formed in 1930 to look after those who had served in the First World War, has breached its £3 million overdraft and needs to cut costs.
It is selling its London headquarters in Chiswick and has closed St David’s House in Brecon, with the possibility of others to follow. The news is said to have shocked the Duke of Edinburgh, the association’s patron.
In today’s RAF News, Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Stear, the association’s president, blames the crisis on mismanagement and the failure to act on warnings given ten years ago. He said the association had been warned by its bank urgently to dispose of assets. He blamed the failure ten years ago to cut down on administration and membership costs.
The association had been pushed financially “over the edge” by the opening of a new respite care home, St David’s House, and a project to look after mentally ill members.
Sir Michael said the association had turned to the RAF’s own benevolent fund for financial help and it had brought in a firm of accountants. The financial health check revealed the association would have to consider the future of its residential homes, he said.
Sir Michael said the association was so short of money that spending had been restricted “to only that which we are legally bound”.
A review is being carried out of its finances and “cost-cutting measures and a thorough review of the financial performance of our other homes”.
The association has 100,000 members and operates 600 branches. It is not known where members being looked after in residential homes would be moved if homes were shut.