The chief executive of a housing charity which operates an under-threat home for the elderly in Aberystwyth offered a glimmer of hope to residents this week by offering help to a campaign group set up to save it.

Gary Hortrop of the Abbeyfield Wales Society, which runs Jasper House on Great Darkgate Street, said the charity will work “closely with the group being established by Dr Lucy Gough to explore ways that the service may continue”.

He added that, with their help, Dr Gough’s group may be able to run the home, which currently has four residents.

Speaking to the Cambrian News, Mr Hortrop said: “The difficult decision to close the home was taken by our trustees in the light of some wider challenges that are being faced by Abbeyfield Wales Society and the need for us to determine which of our services will be viable into the longer term.

“As a result of this review the decision to close Jasper House was taken due to the need for significant reinvestment and its broader fitness for purpose for older people.

“The house requires some significant work to bring it up to an acceptable standard and meet all regulatory requirements; the cost of this work is prohibitive.

“Furthermore, there are some real challenges in the property to make it accessible for people with mobility problems and these cannot be resolved easily.

“We have had to take the decision to close across a small number of other services in Wales in order to secure the longer term future of our other services.

“We do not dispute the need for such services in Aberystwyth, however, Abbeyfield Wales is not currently in a strong enough financial position to be able to reprovide for this service in Aberystwyth.”

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