When the Ruth Cowell care home for elderly Christians closed down, it was not a story that would interest the national press.
There were no protests from residents or staff, only an acceptance of the need to close and an assurance that God would take care of them.
Increasing maintenance costs, financial pressure and fewer residents had been topics of prayer for some time, and when the announcement was made that the home would close, home manager Lynne Yule said: 'Everything fell into place quickly and naturally. There was a feeling that the timing was right, and God was in charge of it all.' Within days of the announcement in July, seven of the 13 residents at the Home had accepted places in other Pilgrim Homes, while some chose to relocate to be near their families. One went to a care home recently opened by former manager Sue Watson. Bristol is a place of high employment and staff were confident about finding other jobs. Pilgrim Homes' Chief Executive, Peter Tervet, said the Trustees were very sad to have to close such a well run home. It was an ageing building with increasing maintenance costs, and the number of residents had been halved in recent months by the government's policy of diverting funding to care-in-the-community programmes. This was on top of already inadequate local authority funding that had to be topped up from charitable giving.
