Closure plans for care home (From Stroud News and Journal)

Closure plans for care home

A FROCESTER home which provides care for more than 40 disabled people is set to close.

The Home Farm Trust is winding up operations at its Frocester Manor site because it doesn't meet the requirements of its clients and the trust can no longer afford to run it.

"It's not meeting the needs of a lot of the service users there and the site isn't financially viable either," said Jacqui Gwilliam, director of communications for the trust.

She said there was a limited amount of ground floor accommodation at the manor which made it difficult for many of the older residents while its isolated location made it less than ideal for the younger residents who needed more community integration.

"There are a lot of older people with mobility issues and for younger people it is difficult to get to college or employment from Frocester," she said.

"They need to be better networked into the community so they can do the things they want to do."

The manor currently provides care and accommodation for 43 adults with learning disabilities.

Ms Gwilliam gave assurances all would be found suitable accommodation elsewhere in the county.

"Nobody is going to be out on the streets," she said.

"We're talking to families, the service users and staff to find out who wants to live with whom and are looking for alternative accommodation.

"It could take a year to 18 months to achieve that and nothing is going to happen overnight. "It will be a planned and careful process."

She also said there would be no compulsory redundancies and said members of staff would be offered alternative employment elsewhere in the county.

"We have been having discussions with the staff about the relocation of the services and who'd like to go where," she said.

Once the relocation has been completed the manor and grounds are expected to be sold on the open market.