Old hospital site could become college

The site of a former community hospital could become a college for young people with complex needs.

Gloucestershire Independent College has bought the old Dilke Memorial Hospital site and wants it to provide specialist education for people aged 14-25 on the autism spectrum with complex needs and multi-learning disabilities.

Kevin Adams from Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust said it was important "not only to achieve best financial value in support of local health services" but to "secure social value".

Adams said the site was a "valued community asset with a proud history of supporting people in the Forest of Dean for more than a century".

The Dilke was built using donations from across the UK and weekly contributions from Forest of Dean miners. It was closed in 2024 along with Lydney Hospital when it was replaced with a £25m facility in Cinderford.

"The organisation which has purchased the site intends to use it for education, social and wellbeing purposes. We look forward to seeing what they do with the site and wish them well as the new owners," Adams added.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the new owners also hope to create a therapeutic unit and a health and wellbeing centre for the wider community on the site.

Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.