26 SEPTEMBER 2007
TOPPING OUT CEREMONY HELD AT THE ROYAL STAR & GARTER’S SOLIHULL HOME
Construction of a new care home in Solihull for The Royal Star & Garter Homes for Disabled Ex-Service Men and Women reached a significant milestone when the “topping out” ceremony took place on Monday 24th September. This is traditionally held when the highest point of a new building has been constructed.
Conducting the ceremony were the Chairman of The Royal Star & Garter Homes, Vice Admiral Sir John Dunt, and the Charity’s Vice President, Falklands veteran Simon Weston.
Eight buglers from the Light Infantry (The Rifles) opened the proceedings with a ceremonial fanfare. Vice Admiral Sir John Dunt welcomed the guests and thanked the construction company, Morgan Ashurst, for the splendid building. Then he and Simon Weston embarked on the topping out ritual of laying the final roof tile and sprinkling a yew branch with oils, wine and salt before it was attached to the top of the building. The origins of the ceremony are obscure but it is generally agreed that it represents gratitude to the builders for their safe working, wishes safety for those about to complete the construction, and conveys good luck to everyone who will live and work in the building in the future.
Simon Weston unveiled a commemorative plaque followed by a final fanfare from the buglers to mark the completion of the ceremony.
Watching the event were governors and staff of The Royal Star & Garter Homes, and guests who included Air Commodore Mike Barter from the RAF Benevolent Fund which has most generously made a £2 million lead gift to the Charity’s 90th Anniversary Appeal to be used to fund the Dementia Care Wing at the Solihull home as well as an area within the next new home to be built. This is planned to be located at Hampton Court beside the River Thames to the south-west of London.
Commenting on the gift Air Commodore Barter said, “We are delighted to be able to make this significant contribution to The Royal Star & Garter Homes. With over a quarter of the residents being ex-RAF, this donation is an excellent example of our ongoing support for all those of our extended family who are in need or distress”.
After the ceremony, Simon Weston said, “It is inspiring to see that only seven months after we held the “turning the sod” ceremony, the basic structure of this building is nearly complete. When it opens to residents next summer it will extend The Royal Star & Garter Charity’s special brand of care to a new group of disabled ex-Service men and women in high-quality, state-of-the-art surroundings.”
Topping out ceremony held at The Royal Star & Garter’s Solihull home
“We are thrilled to have reached this important milestone in the project,” says Bill Haynes, Morgan Ashurst Area Director. “The multi-million-pound building will boast a number of facilities including a café, dining room, hair and beauty salon and special therapy room with staff on hand seven days a week providing 24 hour care for residents.” He adds: “We are now looking forward to beginning the internal works.”
About the Royal Star & Garter Charity – 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 who is physically disabled or incapacitated and has served in Her Majesty’s Forces, and also to their spouses and partners. There are also a wide variety of leisure activities available for 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, for the first time, will include a specialist dementia care wing to address this growing need. The first of these prestigious new homes will open in Solihull, the West Midlands, in the summer of 2008.
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For further information about The Royal Star & Garter Homes for Disabled Ex-Service Men and Women please contact:
Patsy Willis, Director of Fundraising and Public Relations
Tel: 020 8438 8167
Email: patsy.willis@starandgarter.org
Susan Harley, Marketing & Communications Manager
Tel: 020 8439 8118
Email: sue.harley@starandgarter.org
For further information about Morgan Ashurst and the construction project please contact:
Lyndsay Scanlan, E=MC2 Public Relations
Tel: 01747 871752
Email: Lyndsay@emc2publicrelations.com