The drop-in on the future of Grisedale Croft Care Home, held on Wednesday 3 June, filled the library at Alston Town Hall for the full two hours. People came in numbers, and the message was the same from one side of the room to the other: a clear no to closing the only care home on Alston Moor.
Westmorland and Furness Council (WFC) sent around eight officers, among them senior figures including the Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Care. They were spread out across the library, so the meeting never became one conversation — small groups formed around each officer instead. When people asked them to come up to the hall and speak to everyone together, they would not, and stayed among the groups downstairs.
Those who spoke raised specific, local points about what closure would mean: for residents who would be moved away from daily visits by family and friends, for end-of-life care close to home, and for a remote community that has no alternative on the Moor. The answers came back, but they largely restated WFC's existing position rather than engaging with what had just been said. People left feeling their concerns had been noted in the room but not answered.
An event being held, and people turning up, can be logged as consultation having taken place. What also has to be on the record is how strongly, and how clearly, this community has said no. On Wednesday it did. We are asking the community to make it just as plain at the next opportunity.
The next drop-in is at 5pm on Monday 15 June 2026, in the library at Alston Town Hall. If you can be there, please come — numbers matter, and so does being heard together.
WFC's consultation on Grisedale Croft is open until 5 August 2026. You can respond directly to WFC, and you can also record what you saw and said, and read the background, at alstonmoorhealth.org/get-involved.
Grisedale Croft Working Group, on behalf of Alston Moor Parish Council
