October 2009
Presitigious Charity Seeks Site for New Home in Bucks
The Royal Star & Garter Homes Charity for disabled ex-Service men and women has chosen the Northern Home Counties, and specifically the county of Buckinghamshire, as its preferred location to build a third new 60 bed care home. It has appointed Savills' development team to find the site.
The Charity, established in Richmond in 1916, is in the process of establishing new, modern care facilities in different parts of the country for ex-Service people which will eventually replace its old Richmond Home. The Charity has also identified an urgent and growing need for dementia care and each new home will incorporate a dementia care wing.
Ed James, of Savills' development team, has been instructed to find a 1.5 - 3 acre site, of which the scheme itself will cover 50,000sq ft, near an urban centre such as High Wycombe or Aylesbury.
He said: "The site needs to have good public transport links and easy access to local amenities. Funds are immediately available for this project and all opportunities are being considered."
Buckinghamshire was chosen as the location for a third home as there is a marked gap in the provision of good quality care, a shortage of dementia care places, and very few designated ex-Service beds. A significant increase in local demand for older persons' services and support is also anticipated.
The first new Royal Star & Garter Home opened in Solihull, the West Midlands, in August 2008 and was awarded first place in the Pinders Healthcare Design Awards 2009 in the larger care home category and has already achieved a 2 star rating by the Care Quality Commission.
A second new home will be built next to Hampton Court Station, to where residents currently living at the Richmond Home will eventually transfer.
The three new homes represent the Charity's long term strategy to provide the best possible care and facilities for ex-Service people in attractive, modern surroundings. The new home, which will include a unit offering dementia care, will accommodate around 60 residents in large en suite bed sitting rooms, with communal facilities including dining room, activities areas, a bar and café, therapy room, hairdressing salon, IT and library area, laundry and extensive gardens. As in the Solihull Home, where a 21 year old disabled Royal Marine is currently being cared for, the new homes will also be able to offer care and support to younger Service personnel, injured in more recent conflicts, on an interim basis.
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For further information please contact:
Luke Hawkesbury, Savills London, lhawkesbury@savills.com, 020 7409 9942
Edward James, Savills London, ejames@savills.com, 020 7409 8824