Home set to close after £200,000 loss (From Gazette Series)

Home set to close after £200,000 loss

TWELVE elderly people in Cambridge have less than three months to find a new home before their care home is closed.

The residents of Cambridge Retirement Home were told the place they know as home is to be shut by the end of September.

Home supervisor Alison Dunne said the news had been a shock to both residents and employees.

She said: "We are all very upset about it and the residents are really upset because they don't know where they are going to go. They moved here because it was near to their families and friends who mainly live in Cam and Dursley.

"There are also 20 members of staff here who must go and find new jobs."

Residents now face the prospect of having to move further from their families, with inquiries having already been made by staff at care homes in Wotton-under-Edge, Nailsworth and Stroud.

The trust that runs the home, TACT, has blamed closure on recent financial losses.

Director of development Colin Campbell highlighted a loss of £200,000 in the last four years.

He said: "TACT finds itself with no option but to close the home. We have been trying to sell the home as a business and, although a number of prospective purchasers have shown initial interest, ultimately the figures didn't add up.

"The decision to close is not something that we have taken lightly as our first concern has always been for the residents.

"If the government paid a significant amount more to social services so that they could give more to us, this may have been prevented."

However, reasons for the decision do not make any difference to the worried residents and their relatives.

Indeed, the daughter of one resident suggested that TACT was just making excuses.

Jill Hewish, whose 85-year-old father, Jim Smith, is a resident, said: "There are only a small proportion of social services funded residents here. The rest pay privately, so I don't see how that can be used as an excuse."

Gloucestershire County Council cabinet member for adult care Cllr Mark Hendry promised residents' needs would be looked after.

He said: "We will be working with the residents, supporting them through the move. We have procedures in place to deal with this and we can offer people help and advice."

The building has not yet been sold but it is expected that the £400,000-valued property could be redeveloped as housing.