THE groundbreaking ceremony for a new £8.5 million care home at a former garden centre site, takes place today.

Developers, Castleoak, are transforming the former Wyevale garden centre at Castleton, on the outskirts of Newport, into a new 80-bed care home. The new home will be leased and run by one of the UK’s leading care home operators, Barchester Healthcare, and will provide residential, nursing and specialist dementia care, as well as bringing 100 jobs to the area.

Steve Bucknell, managing director of Castleoak, said: “The new care home will be built on the site of Castleton’s Wyevale Garden Centre and will bring much needed high quality care accommodation to east Cardiff and Newport.

“The operation of the care home by Barchester Healthcare will also bring more than 100 long-term full-time equivalent jobs to the local area when it opens spring 2015.”

David Duncan, investment director of Barchester Healthcare, said: “Delivering high-quality care in first-class care homes is at the heart of Barchester’s ethos.

“We look forward to providing an excellent care setting, tailored to the specific needs of older people in the Cardiff and Newport area, including those living with dementia.

“We have been voted one of the Sunday Times 25 Best Big Companies to Work For and offer great learning and development opportunities to all our employees.”

Funding for the new home is provided by the CarePlaces Fund, a joint venture between Castleoak and sustainable growth investor, Bridges Ventures.

The fund focuses exclusively on building high quality, sustainable homes for older people.

Over the last 12 years Castleoak has built 22 care homes for Barchester Healthcare, the equivalent of more than 1,400 care beds.