Bedford charity for over 50s to close after 61 years

Bedford Guild House has run a number of exercise classes

A charity that has supported people aged over 50 will close in a week's time after providing help for 61 years.

Bedford Guild House said it costed £200,000 a year to run the charity and provide upkeep to the building and it was no longer financially viable.

A fundraising appeal to keep everything going was started last year.

Chief executive Sonia Minney said the money helped, but added "there comes an end to everything and I think we have reached the end of usefulness locally".

"I didn't think I would ever see this day. It's been my life for 24 years," she said.

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

Bedford Guild House is owned by the borough council but has been tenanted by the charity of the same name for decades.

The charity operated a cafe, provided social support and put on creative, exercise and mindfulness classes, but it is due to shut the site's doors on 26 August.

"It's not just a question of money. After the pandemic people haven't come back in the numbers we wanted, so we have no way of remaining viable financially," said Ms Minney.

She said the charity's directors made the decision, which had left its handful of workers and dozens of volunteers in a "bit of a shock".

The charity was trying to find alternative venues for the activities it offered and "quite a lot of the groups will move to a different arrangement," she said.

Art classes have also been offered by the charity, which started in 1961

The only way to remain open was to "find a millionaire who will be willing to give us three or four years of funding, which is £200,000 a year," she added.

Ms Minney said it had been "very successful" over the years, but as funding was hard to find and with the increase in the cost of living, she said it was "just not easy" to continue.