Historic almshouses planning a new

A reluctance to embrace community living and the spiralling costs of maintaining a Grade I listed building has forced trustees of historic almshouses in Sherborne to change the way they operate. St Johns’ House in Half Moon Street has offered lowcost communal living for 575 years. But lately the trustees have struggled to find people willing to live there –particularly since covid. The accommodation first opened in 1448. For nearly six centuries it’s provided shelter for retired people in its 19 rooms. The en-suite rooms are provided unfurnished, so residents can bring their own home comforts, and homecooked meals are provided. It’s not a care home, so people must be able to live independently – though cleaning, ironing and gardening are taken care of. But now trustees have decided to consult the public in a bid to modernise the charity.

They said: “We can assure the community that during our consultation so far, we have looked very carefully at the individual needs of our remaining six residents and those who are capable of independent living have been offered self-contained accommodation in the Almshouse’s annex.

“Unfortunately, those that have greater care needs and are unable to live independently are being asked to move to more suitable accommodation.

“They will be given every assistance to find a safe and appropriate new home in keeping with both their needs and our charitable aims.

“Sadly, we will need to make redundancies, which will affect 18 part-time and two full-time roles, as we no longer require these to look after our two remaining residents. We will continue to employ a small team to take us forward on our journey.

“We will be very sad to lose incredibly loyal, caring and supportive staff, some of whom have been with us for many years. Support will be offered to help these highly capable and dedicated team members find new jobs in the community. Several local employers have already expressed an interest in employing our staff. Those moving on will do so by June 30, as we feel this is an appropriate length of time for them to help residents to be settled elsewhere. Our timetable now is driven purely to ensure the safety of our residents.”

They added: “The charity is now looking to enter into a community engagement phase. We would like anyone interested in finding out more to come along to our engagement events and to sign up for our online news noticeboard via our website stjohnshouse.org

“Anyone who isn’t internetenabled will be able to see printed copies on the actual Almshouse’s noticeboard in the cloisters.”

The original almshouse of S. John The Baptist and S. John

The Evangelist is the best surviving example of a medieval almshouse in Wessex. Its Foundation Deed is dated January 10 1437 and