2 May 2007
RESIDENTS AND STAFF AT THE ROYAL STAR & GARTER GIVE PLANS FOR A NEW HOME THE "THUMBS UP"
There has been much excitement at The Royal Star & Garter Home for disabled ex-Service men and women in Richmond following the announcement on the 4th April that the Charity hopes to build a new home on the Hampton Court Station Site, in partnership with Gladedale. Residents staff and volunteers were of course the first to hear the news and an overwhelmingly positive response has been voiced by all who are looking forward to the prospect of a new home in this prestigious Hampton Court location.
“Following the initial announcement, we held an open forum meeting to give everyone a chance to ask questions about this potential site for our new home”, explains Lynn McDougall, Chief Executive at The Royal Star & Garter Homes. “We were delighted that almost 200 people attended, including residents, families, staff and volunteers. Our Chairman, Vice Admiral Sir John Dunt, led the proceedings and explained that of the 100 or so sites we had considered over the last three years, the Hampton Court station site is by far the best option for us and fulfils all the criteria we set for ourselves. We were pleased to note the excitement and pledges of support voiced at the meeting. Some members of staff and families of residents are local to the proposed site and expressed approval that the Star & Garter could be moving to the area and to a site that would clearly benefit from improvement.”
Mike Anderson, a Nurse Care Manager at the Home and a resident of Hampton Hill, summed up the feelings of many, “I never thought we could find a location for a new Star & Garter Home that equalled our place here on the top of Richmond Hill” said Mike “But the beautiful Hampton Court Station location would be just perfect and the accessibility to the site means we could all get out and about even more than we do now!”
Like many of the residents, most of whom served in WW2, ex-Service woman Jessie Millard, thinks the site is ideal. “It’s near the station, shops and the river and a park – what more can we ask?” said Jessie. Ex Royal Marine Dick Martin agrees, “I think it’s a great site – really wonderful”. For Patricia Godwin, formerly in the Women’s Royal Air Force, the proximity of shops and cafes is appealing and the site is very close to her son’s home in Teddington. Ex RAF veteran Robert Stickland said "We just hope that planning permission is granted, which it should be, as it seems a great place. I think it would be a suitable place for us and I don’t think we would be in anyone’s way”.
The Royal Star & Garter Homes has also received letters of support from local people as well as residents themselves and their families who were all pleased to hear the news that the Charity has taken a step closer to making its vision for the future into a reality.
The proposed overall development of this site is being led by Gladedale and it is hoped that a planning application will be made in the near future.
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About the Royal Star & Garter Homes - Founded in 1916.
The Royal Star & Garter Charity has been caring for disabled ex-Service personnel since 1916. The Charity offers the best in nursing and therapeutic care for anyone is physically disabled or incapacitated and has served in Her Majesty’s Forces. There are also a wide variety of leisure activities available for our residents to enjoy, both internally and at outside venues. The Royal Star & Garter Charity is embarking on an ambitious and wide reaching project to build new homes, in the South West London area and elsewhere, to provide specialist care for elderly disabled ex-Service people in the best modern surroundings and will include a specialist dementia wing. The first of these will open in Solihull in the summer of 2008.
FURTHER INFO: Patsy Willis, Director of Fundraising & PR,The Royal Star & Garter Homes.
TEL: 020 8439 8110 or EMAIL: patsy.willis@starandgarter.org.uk
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION about the Gladedale planned development of the Hampton Court Station site please contact Wyn Evans, Lexington Communications on 020 7025 2300.