Furlong Close: Care home complex saved from closure

A new owner has signed a deal saving the homes from permanently closing down for at least ten more years

A deal has been signed to save a care home complex for vulnerable adults from closing down.

After two years of uncertainty at Furlong Close in Rowde, near Devizes, a new owner has stepped in to help save their homes for at least the next 10 years.

The supported bungalows for adults with learning disabilities house 29 people.

The charity Specialised Supported Housing (SSH) is the new landlord.

SSH founder Grant Livingstone bought the site and said "the real life impacts of this resonated with me personally from experience that I had with my own family".

Trish Gange, whose daughter lives in one of the homes, told BBC Radio Wiltshire it was a relief for the parents.

'Absolute horror'

"Any parent of a disabled person, knowing that outcome could have come about and it didn't, is the best thing ever," she said.

Some of the residents had lived in the homes for decades and faced being homeless after the previous owner pulled out.

The families of the 29 people living there mounted a campaign to save it, chaired by Antonia Field. Her brother Robin, who has Downs Syndrome, has lived at Furlong Close for 29 years.

The day she found out Furlong Close was at risk "will be engraved on my heart, it was absolute horror," she said.

"That night I had panic attacks, I just did not know what to do", fearing a move out could have been life limiting for her brother.

But Ms Field said the news of the new deal has left families like hers "absolutely delighted and relieved".

"It's wonderful as far as I'm concerned."

Mark Steele has been campaigning to help his relative David who lives at Furlong Close.

He believed the decision had been overdue.

He said: "We have been waiting for this to happen for so long, we had so many obstacles thrown up along the way."