The Bridgwater Chamber of Commerce welcomes news that the £19.7million bid for the former Bridgwater Hospital to Government’s Levelling Up Fund has been accepted.  The Grade II listed building will now become a Training Centre of Excellence for Health and Social Care. 

The project will see the building returned to public use by creating a wholly integrated skills development and learning academy to attract, retain, grow, and upskill our key workers in the care sector.  The objectives for the project are to:

·       Grow and upskill the local labour market making Somerset an attractive place to work in the Health and Social Care sector.

·       Address local health and care inequalities through a more professionally trained sector, which also helps create more capacity in primary care with more people being supported at home.

·       Drive innovation in Health and Social Care service delivery and training by encouraging tech-business co-location at the site.

Bridgwater Chamber Manager, Diogo Rodrigues says “I’m delighted that this Levelling Up bid has been successful. The former Bridgwater Hospital has been an eyesore and a bit of a problem area for Bridgwater for some years now.”

He adds, “The restoration and re-use of this important building will improve the appearance of the town, increase further footfall to the town centre and create new jobs. This is a great win for Bridgwater which will further diversify and strengthen our local economy.”