DropBy

Viridian Housing’s new development at Halton Court in Kidbrooke Village SE3 is one of London’s first shared ownership scheme for the over 55’s, allowing buyers to free up capital from their existing property to enable them to enjoy their later years. At the same time, they have the peace of mind of knowing that the development provides all the extras that can make life easier for residents as they get older. Halton Court offers a range of facilities designed to make life secure and comfortable and ensure that residents can enjoy life. They include: a 24 hour concierge, village hall, waitered service restaurant and bar, hair salon, nail bar, internet area, spa bath, 'residents’ lounge, guest suite, a large communal garden on the first floor and a roof garden. Felicity Gentle, Development Sales and Marketing Manager of Viridian Housing comments: “The shared ownership scheme at Halton Court offers the over 55’s the perfect opportunity to free up more capital from their existing home to enable them to enjoy their retirement. The maximum share people can buy is 75% but unlike some shared ownership schemes, people who buy a 75% share do not have to pay rent on the remaining 25%.” The waiter service restaurant provides subsidised meals from breakfast through to dinner. In the bar, a large plasma TV enables residents to watch a football or rugby match, or an afternoon movie. Wall to wall glass doors surround three sides of the bar and restaurant, leading to an outside terrace where people can take in the views of the stunning ‘green river’ which flows throughout Kidbrooke Village. Silver surfers can go online in the internet café and take advantage of WiFi, which is available in most communal areas and join up to DropBy. Residents can get their hair cut and styled regularly in the hairdressing salon and there is a treatment room for visiting therapists and health visitors. A team of staff will help people with daily requests and ensure that everything runs smoothly. A village hall provides a venue for communal events while the residents’ lounge, and communal seating areas offer plenty of opportunities for residents to meet up with friends. The roof garden is a perfect place to relax and enjoy the amazing views of central London and the surrounding area. Residents can enjoy growing plants in the gardening/potting room and display their plants for others to enjoy. A shed provides storage for garden equipment. There are 20 shared ownership apartments available at Halton Court, which comprise two bedrooms, open plan living/kitchen/dining room and bathroom. The bathrooms come in three designs, and the kitchens offer a choice of three cabinet designs. Each property has a large balcony or terrace, some have two and all have a sliding slatted screen which can be moved to provide a sun shade on hot days. Parking facilities are available for cars, bikes and mobility scooters, which can be charged on site. Each group of apartments is easily identifiable with different carpet colours and a display cabinet outside the front door of each apartment enables residents to display their own items to individualise their home. To ensure residents can remain in their own home when they get older, care services could be bought in if required and could include domestic help and/or personal care. As part of the overall Kidbrooke Village, Halton Court is surrounded by 55 hectares of green space including Cator Park, a new landscaped park which forms a ‘green river’ through Kidbrooke Village to existing parks in the area. The numerous footpaths around the development enable residents to get out for a walk and for the more energetic there is a David Lloyd Health and Fitness Centre, sports pitches, an athletics track, tennis and basketball courts, some of which will be available in later stages of the development. The new village centre is a short walk away and currently includes a supermarket, café, pharmacy and Kidbrooke railway station. In future there will be a dentist, GP surgery and many other facilities. Prices for a two bedroom apartment at Halton Court start from £162,500 based on a 50% share of a property with a full market value of £325,000. For further information contact 0800 012 1442 or visit www.viridianhousing.org.uk.org.uk

http://healthkicks.podbean.com/ This week, the Health Kicks Show went 'on the road' to a natural burial centre in the beautiful, rolling, Surrey countryside in the UK. John Hicks met the management of Clandon Wood Natural Burial Centre (http://clandonwood.com/). Natural Burial, Woodland Burial, Meadow Burial, Eco Burial, Green Burial ...different names but the same idea. John finds out if Natural Burial really is the responsible answer to how we deal with our dead. In addition, John met local organisations which support Clandon Wood: DropBy (http://www.DropBy.co.uk), The Brigitte Trust (http://www.brigittetrust.org), Surrey Hills Area of Natural Beauty (http://www.surreyhills.org) and PR specialist and professional photographer Dani Mamoine (http://www.danipics.com/). Great interviews. Great location. Unmissable radio! http://healthkicks.podbean.com/

Sitting at the cafe table as a job club facilitator can be tedious if no job hunters come along. Fortunately the job club is in the Library building so there is plenty to do.

However, I think we are meeting government targets in some kind of way. You know the kind of thing which has been on TV lately. Anyway, this week I went into a  charity shop to promote dementia-friendly activities, to buy a few books, and generally browse. All were rewarding but the browsing gave me pleasure somewhat later.

I spied a tiny notice saying "Vacany" - so I asked for details. Anyway to cut a long story short ...
....a drop-in job club means a job hunter comes in, has a chat, hopefully heeds advice, and is off. Some come back but a higher proportion don't - "Do I give the wrong impression?" "Do I depress them with a rather realistic approach?" "Do I need a new kind of mouth wash?" Anyway to cut a long story shorter...
... I went home and armed with a telephone, I forwenting the TV and the laptop, I rang about a dozen or so members who had dropped in and hopped out. At least three of them had found jobs! Two had come in in the last few weeks!
Spurred to new enthusiasms I have been so busy this morning:

• sorted out my job club litereature
• plan to update the unpublished member's handbook;
• counted members and their results.

I estimate that sitting/lounging  around  for 1.5 to 2 hours a week waiting and chatting has resulted in about a 25% to 35% (known) success ratefor job hunter. Admittedly, the unsuccess rate is at about 75% to 65% (unknown). I have persoannaly spent £2.00 and bourne a very very modest consumables - bit of petrol because I'm lazy and some pages of printing a pence per sheet, etc.  Bear in mind what I do is easy-peasy; it is about 60 years ago when I was unemployed - as many of you will concur it is no picnic. Who was the radion character who said frequently "Have a go!" - create your own job club or volunteer to help one near you.

Afterthought: maybe I should refer to a drop-in job club as a dropby job club!
 

 

St George’s Park highlights: according to a study by Sweden’s Karolinska Institute being active and living a healthy lifestyle into your seventies can add up to six years onto your life expectancy. Taken from a study of 1,810 people aged over 75 and reported in the British Medical Journal, the findings said that men with the healthiest lifestyles live six years longer and women five years. The report showed that swimming, walking and gymnastics increased life expectancy by around two years and those with a rich social life lived a year and a half longer than those without. In addition, even after the age of 85, low risk lifestyles prolonged life by four years. Figures from the Office of National Statistics showed men in the UK could expect to live until the age of 78 and women until 82.
 

Perfect for people looking to enjoy an active and healthy lifestyle, including all the activities recommended in the study, St George’s Park in Ditchling, East Sussex is ideal for the over 60’s. Boasting a vast array of social and leisure facilities including a gymnasium, 250 acres of parkland and landscaped gardens for walking, an active Residents Association, restaurant and café, residents can enjoy their later years having fun and keeping fit. A leisure centre with swimming pool and spa, and tennis courts will also be available in the last phase of the development. Phillip Smith, Sales and Marketing Director of St George’s Park comments: “As can be seen from the Swedish study, leading a healthy and active lifestyle can make a significant different to people’s life expectancy. At St George’s Park we encourage residents to enjoy the excellent range of social and leisure facilities available to ensure they make the most of their later years and lead long, happy lives.” The sports and leisure facilities are both indoor and outdoor, thereby ensuring activities are available all year around. Enabling residents to enjoy lots of fresh air, outdoor pursuits include fishing in the lake, golf, bowling, croquet and even an allotment club. Alternatively indoor activities include table tennis, snooker, line dancing, short tennis and short mat bowls.




The Resident’s Association also organises a packed timetable of activities to keep everyone busy. These include art club, local history, scrabble, book clubs and friendly bridge club and the ever popular ‘knit and natter’ club. To further enrich their social life, residents can enjoy a healthy meal with friends and visiting guests in the café or restaurant or take a trip into the local towns with friends on the mini bus service or make use of the pool car service. They can also visit the hairdressers, enjoy a book in the library or enjoy one of the many activities that take part in the original concert hall. This makes an ideal place for special occasions, communal gatherings and other events including plays, guest speakers, film nights or concerts. Apartments throughout the village are generously proportioned, well planned, light and finished to a very high specification. All are fully accessible for wheelchair users and residents with mobility impairments, while offering attractive, contemporary interiors. For peace of mind St George’s Park has ensured that all apartments come with monitored security, video entry and fire alarm systems. St George’s Park is within 3 miles of Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill both of which offer good local shopping including major supermarkets and excellent rail links to Brighton, Gatwick Airport and London Victoria. Prices for currently available properties at St Georges Park start at £345,000 for a two bedroom apartment. For further information contact the sales office on 01444 259732 or visit www.stgeorgespark.co.uk

Retirement village St George’s Park in Ditchling, East Sussex highlights; research from retirement income specialist MGM Advantage reveals that the average retired person spends 256 hours a year looking after grandchildren and other members of their family. It estimates that if families had to pay for this level of care from third parties, it would cost them each around £1,313 per year or collectively over £14 billion. The findings also reveal that there are some 224,584 retired people spending over 20 hours a week looking after just grandchildren, and a further 533,400 spending between 11 and 20 hours doing this. On average, a typical retired person spends two hours a week looking after grandchildren, 43 minutes taking care of their parents and two hours caring for other members of their family. Residents at St George’s Park welcome visits from their grandchildren and relatives, who can get involved in the many leisure activities on offer at the development as Phil Smith, Sales and Marketing Director explains: “At St George’s Park, many of the residents look after their grandchildren on a regular basis and they love it here. With so many activities to choose from, the whole family can come together with a game of short tennis, croquet, bowls or even a spot of fishing on the lake!” “After all that, if the children are still raring to go, there is an onsite farm with alpacas and buffalos plus acres of land to go for long walks in the Sussex countryside. Then, having worked up an appetite, the whole family can enjoy lunch, dinner and even breakfast at the on-site restaurant located in the spacious community centre named Maes Court.” Catering for a rainy day meanwhile is also not a problem as a games room and library can also be found at Maes Court. Plus each apartment at St George’s Park has broadband and satellite facilities so a day spent curled up watching the latest cartoons and films is also catered for. St Georges Park is set in 250 acres of parkland and landscaped grounds, which has been developed by the St Augustine Order to provide a retirement village which caters for residents’ every need. Situated within 3 miles of Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill, the development is well located to take advantage of good local shopping including major supermarkets and excellent rail links to Brighton, Gatwick Airport and London Victoria. Prices for currently available properties at St Georges Park start at £345,000 for a two bedroom apartment. For further information contact the sales office on 01444 259732 or visit www.stgeorgespark.co.uk

Future residents at St George’s Park in Ditchling, East Sussex recently celebrated their impending move into the successful retirement development by attending the planting of a tree at Chestnut View, the newest phase of apartments. 

The apartments have already proved a hit among prospective purchasers with many looking forward to moving into their new home. Mr Smith who is purchasing a two bedroom apartment at Chestnut View commented: “My wife and I are delighted to be here to celebrate the occasion and are really looking forward to moving into our new apartment and enjoying the wide range of facilities here at St George’s Park.”

Eileen Perrin, Sales Manager at St George’s Park commented: “We are delighted to see so many proud future residents here to celebrate the occasion. The tree not only signifies the completion of Chestnut View but also represents the new residents coming together to join our thriving community.” St George’s Park offers a lot more than an attractive setting and quality apartments, it provides a sense of community for the over 60s which is another reason the development has continued to prove so popular. Residents can enjoy an active social life by getting involved with the Resident’s Association, who organise table tennis, snooker, line dancing, short tennis, croquet and short mat bowls to name a few. Other facilities include a gymnasium, restaurant, café bar, hairdressers, convenience shop, games room and library that are located in the spacious and well used community centre, Maes Court. This centre also includes a multi-purpose function room and a treatment room that provides excellent amenities for visiting therapists. The original concert hall, with its ornate ceiling, is also available to residents and makes an ideal place for special occasions, communal gatherings and other events including plays, guest speakers, film nights or concerts. For residents that prefer the outdoors, there is a well-stocked lake for fishing, a footpath network across the 250 acres of grounds, woodland and lakes, and even an allotment club.
 

St George’s Park is superbly located for the beautiful countryside of the South Downs, a mix of rural villages and towns including Brighton, which all have numerous places to explore, shops and restaurants to try.

There is also horse racing at both Brighton and Lingfield racecourses, and further afield Goodwood, which is also a venue for motor racing and other internationally acclaimed events. The development is within 3 miles of Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill both of which offer good local shopping including major supermarkets and excellent rail links to Brighton, Gatwick Airport and London Victoria.

Prices for currently available properties at St Georges Park start at £345,000 for a two bedroom apartment. For further information contact the sales office on 01444 259732 or visit www.stgeorgespark.co.uk