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A fresh approach to retirement living
"There's so much to do and I've made so many friends; it's such a wonderful sense of community. This is far from the boring life that so many people my age have come to expect."
Mollie Alger
In recent years, the focus and drive of the St Monica Trust’s care, support and accommodation services has been to meet the needs of individuals by offering a wide choice of support so that people are able to maintain their independence and enjoy a dignified andfulfilling life. By developing the retirement village concept, the Trust has established a combination of services, which are designed to accommodate a range of people – from the more active and independent to those who require a greater degree of support.
Within our three retirement complexes in Bristol, some residents live in self contained apartments/flats where additional help with household chores and personal care is available – in many cases providing an attractive alternative to residential care. The unique element of this service is the range of tenure on offer; individuals may either rent, purchase or part purchase/part rent their property (shared ownership). The Trust’s latest development at Sandford, North Somerset will follow the same model of retirement living.
Others occupy en-suite rooms in our care homes where nursing care and a full range of ‘hotel services’ combine to encourage residents to remain as independent as possible. In addition to providing for people on an individual basis, the Trust has also joined forces with Bristol City Council to make our services available to individuals who can access them through the local authority.
More recently we have also begun the expansion of our support for people with dementia within specially designed environments that cater specifically for the needs of people who suffer with short term memory loss. Further, in recognition of the need to provide even more flexible services, the Trust has expanded the Care and Support at Home service to meet the needs of individuals in their own homes outside our retirement communities.
A broad range of activity and recreational pursuits are a key element of the Trust’s services on all its sites, enabling residents to become involved as much or as little as they like.Activities co-ordinators are charged with ensuring that there is plenty for residents to do and that the majority of residents’ interests are catered for. A regular programme of events and entertainment offers residents the opportunity to socialise and foster new friendships. Various classes and tutorials provide a chance to develop interests and perhaps gain new ones. Other facilities, which encourage residents to get out and about, include licensed restaurants, gymnasiums, spa pools, meeting rooms, a minibus offering trips and outings, libraries, and landscaped grounds.
National recognition of our services
A variety of the Trust's services have attracted a great deal of interest from very many outside organisations and individuals. In 2005, the newly completed purpose-built care home, the Garden House, was recognised in the prestigious Pinders awards for Best new development (elderly care). This was followed in 2006 by Westbury Fields being recognised as Best independent living scheme.
The unique combination of accommodation at Westbury Fields has also prompted several visits from central government and in 2006 the development featured in two government white papers: Our health, our care, our say and A sure start to later life.
The Trust isn't only recognised for its high quality of care services: our Head Chef was also awarded Care cook of the year in 2005 by the National Association of Care Catering and everyone who samples his menus agrees he deserves such recognition. The Trust's learning and skills department has also become recognised as a leading training agency, our Learning and Skills manager taking the Care assessor of the year award in 2006.
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