22 February 2007
SIMON WESTON OBE CELEBRATES ARRIVAL OF THE ROYAL STAR & GARTER CHARITY IN SOLIHULL
The Royal Star & Garter Charity for disabled ex-Service men and women is delighted to announce that Vice President of the Charity, Falklands veteran, Simon Weston OBE, today led a ‘turning the sod’ ceremony marking the official start to building works of the brand new state-of-the-art care home on Monkspath Hall Road, Solihull. The ceremony also marked the appointment of the contractors Bluestone Plc. The new Royal Star & Garter Home is due to open its doors in the summer of 2008 and will provide nursing and therapeutic care for 60 ex-Service men and women, including a much needed specialist wing for those with dementia. The project is part of a joint development with Barratt Homes who are building residential homes on the site.
After meeting contractors and carrying out the ceremony, Simon Weston said, “We are very excited to be establishing a new Royal Star & Garter home in Solihull where we will bring our special style of care to disabled ex-Service men and women from the local area. We also hope to become an integral part of the community and when the Home opens, we will be providing local job opportunities as well as working with local community groups and volunteers to help run our full and varied activities programme, and of course fundraising events.”
“Bluestone was selected as the result of a very thorough tender process where they were in competition with a number of other major contract companies,” explains Alan Sturgeon, Project Director at The Royal Star & Garter Homes. “We were very impressed with the thorough and professional approach to Bluestone’s presentation which clearly demonstrated that they understood the site and the build project. It was also Bluestone’s enthusiasm for the project that resulted in the unanimous decision by the tender panel to select the company.”
“We are delighted to be part of this important and very worthwhile project to provide a modern and comfortable home for disabled ex-Service men and women,” says Bill Haynes, Bluestone Operations Director for Birmingham. “This is the type of construction work we enjoy undertaking because it is so important to the local community.”
About the Royal Star & Garter Charity – founded in 1916.
The Royal Star & Garter Charity has been caring for disabled ex-Service personnel at its famous Richmond home since 1916. The Charity offers the best in nursing and therapeutic care for anyone who is physically disabled or incapacitated and has served in Her Majesty’s Forces. Royal Star & Garter residents are also encouraged to enjoy a wide variety of leisure activities both internally and at outside venues. The new Royal Star & Garter Home in Solihull marks the start of an ambitious and wide reaching project by the Charity to build new homes in different parts of the country in which to provide specialist care for the ex-Service elderly disabled, and for those with dementia for whom there is very little provision at present.
About Bluestone
Through a network of local offices in England and Wales, Bluestone provides consistent high quality construction services to private and public sector clients. The company’s sector expertise is in education, healthcare, industrial, commercial and retail construction where it undertakes new build and refurbishment projects under a variety of procurement routes.
Bluestone also carries out maintenance projects through its special works team. Bluestone is a member of Morgan Sindall plc, the construction group, which has four specialist divisions of fit-out, construction, infrastructure services and affordable housing. For more information: www.bluestone.plc.uk.
- ends -
FURTHER INFO: Patsy Willis, Director of Fundraising & Public Relations, The Royal Star & Garter Homes
TEL: 020 8439 8110 or EMAIL: patsy.willis@starandgarter.org
Liz Coyle-Camp/Lyndsay Scanlan, Bluestone
TEL: 01747 871752 or EMAIL: liz@emc2publicrelations.com