A company has said they can no longer fund a scheme that lets schoolchildren visit two care homes in Watford – despite making just under £4m profit last year.

Runwood Homes Limited had been funding befriending schemes in six of their care homes across the country, including two from Nottingham and one from both Norfolk and Essex.

In Watford, sixth-formers from St Michael’s High in Garston had been visiting residents at Lancaster Court care home in Leavesden Green since 2013, whilst pupils from Watford Girls’ Grammar had been visiting Greenbanks care home in Leadbetter Drive.

Other Watford schools, including Francis Combe, have also been involved over the years.

However, Runwood has stopped funding the Watford schemes against the wishes of care home owners - as well as the other four across the country.

The schemes had been run by Young People of the year charity (YOPEY). Tony Gearing MBE, the founder of YOPEY, claimed the schemes for the two care homes in Watford cost Runwood just £5,000 per year.

Records from Companies House, however, show that Runwood Homes LTD turned over £139,649,041 in 2018, amounting to a profit of £3,925,545.

Speaking about the cuts to the schemes, Mr Gearing said: “Lancaster Court and Greenbanks are two of six Runwood homes for which we have been providing young volunteers to befriend residents.

“Over the years there have been thousands of visits to Runwood residents. The YOPEY Befrienders are trained to relate to people living with dementia.

“We know the residents love being visited by the young people because they and their families have said so in interviews.”

The manager of Lancaster Court, Ann Hill, said: “The residents have really appreciated the visits of the young people to the home. A number of individuals have come into the care profession due to this scheme.

“I am very disappointed to hear the news that we will no longer have the YOPEY scheme at the home. We need to speculate to accumulate.”

When approached for comment, Tracey Crooke, executive assistant of Runwood Homes, said: “We have actively supported the YOPEY Scheme for a number of years and continue to see the project ethos as being of huge value to the social care sector.

“Organisationally we have devised a number of similar initiatives which further enhances inter-generational community engagement and befriending at a meaningful level and in line with our national wellbeing strategy.

“As an organisation we support a number of recognised charities through local home-level fundraising initiatives and will continue to offer such support to those who need it most.

“We wish the organisers of YOPEY every success in the future.”