Bedford charity for over 50s gets reprieve from closure

Bedford Guild House runs exercise and activity sessions, including table tennis

A charity that provides activities and support for people over 50 has been given a reprieve from possible closure.

Bedford Guild House said in November it needed to raise £20,000 by the end of the year.

Sonia Minney, its chief executive, said it had enough funds, through donations and grants, to continue until January.

It was now working on a "recovery plan" for its long-term future because of a decline in users due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she said.

Sonia Minney (right) on a previous Bedford Guild House trip to Bourton-on-the-Water

"Our requests for financial help have been very successful in the short term and we are now able to open again in January," she said.

Support came from grants from the Frank Branson Trust, the Panacea Society, a fundraising page and supporters.

"We haven't got all we need; we don't know what Covid is going to do to us and if we go into lockdown, it will be difficult," she said.

The charity, which opened in 1961, runs a café and creative, exercise and mindfulness classes, and offers social support.

Its funds were reliant on people attending classes and using the venue, and if people stayed away because of the pandemic, more money would have to be raised, she said.

"We now have to work hard to produce a recovery plan and look to the future.

"The help has allowed us to plug the gap; everyone has been so lovely."

A Christmas Bazaar was held at Bedford Guild House on 6 December