St Andrew’s Healthcare announces closure of Workbridge

St Andrew’s Healthcare today sadly confirmed the forthcoming closure of Workbridge in Northampton.

Workbridge includes a café, garden centre, charity shop, workshop and education services. It was set up to support people to develop vocational skills.

Staff and volunteers have played an important role in delivering these services and supporting the local community. Unfortunately, Workbridge continues to make a financial loss. Despite best efforts, it has not been possible to secure its long-term future and St Andrew’s Healthcare has sadly concluded that closure is the only viable option. This will enable the charity to focus resources on delivering specialist hospital care for patients with complex mental health needs.

St Andrew’s patients will continue to have access to creative, educational, and work-related activities at its Northampton hospital site.

Workbridge’s retail operations will remain open until 23 December. Workbridge’s education service will continue until its existing contracts are fulfilled and it will support its community learners.

**Thursday 13th November - update in response to petition**

Closing Workbridge: A difficult but necessary decision

For many years, St Andrew’s Healthcare has been proud to offer vocational experience, education and training to people in the Northampton community. Through Workbridge - an educational training facility combined with a retail business located on our hospital site - our dedicated staff and volunteers have made a meaningful difference by helping people develop skills, confidence, and independence.

However, for several years, Workbridge has operated at a financial loss. The funding we receive to support community learners, along with income from retail operations, is not sufficient to cover the cost of delivering the service. Rising costs - including the recent increase in employer National Insurance contributions - mean that Workbridge is not financially sustainable. Despite considerable efforts to reduce losses, St Andrew’s has made the difficult decision to close the service.

As a charity specialising in complex mental health, our focus is on some of the most vulnerable people in society, for whom there is no equivalent specialist provision. Regrettably, St Andrew’s can no longer afford to subsidise Workbridge.

We understand and appreciate the strength of community feeling about Workbridge’s closure, as reflected in the petition. While we are no longer able to operate the service, there are other providers in Northampton that do. We remain committed to engaging with groups interested in establishing a similar initiative, sharing service information, and supporting community learners through this transition.