Care homes, hospices and charities

As you may recall from our Annual Review 2009, the care home, hospice and charity sectors are important to us – we already have some excellent experience in these sectors and our business plan identifies them all as growth areas. It gives our teams’ great pleasure and satisfaction to be involved in schemes within these sectors – helping to provide improved facilities for all involved, be it those at work, the patients or the friends and families.

We have some fantastic experience and we hope to continue this trend! One example is Esk Moors Lodge and Bradbury Centre. Esk Moors Lodge, an Extra Care scheme for Abbeyfield, was officially opened in June 2009. We provided project management, employers agent, quantity surveying and health and safety services for this groundbreaking and innovative development.

The 14 unit development incorporated the Bradbury Centre, which delivers an entirely new model of care to the regions wider community. The centre is located in a remote rural area with limited amenities, and the site was subject to significant planning constraints. However, the weight of community support and local engagement helped to realise this development. It is unique in terms of the outrearch services and of the high quality rented homes it provides for the region that is devoid of modern housing for the elderly.

The scheme provides the following services hub for the residents and the people in the outlying community:

• Contemporary facilities including treatment rooms, a techno gym, assisted bathing, a launderette, reflection rooms, activity spaces, IT suites and training rooms.
• Activities including aerobics, Tai Chi, yoga, a cinema, games events, health and welfare talks, chiropody, hair and beauty, physiotherapy, legal briefings, craft workshops, catering advice and a gardening club.
• Extensive catering and dining facilities, with a mobile community meals distribution service.
• Transport options including a minibus service for residents to and from the centre and surrounding parishes.

The scheme incorporates many innovative and sustainable facilities including ground source heat options, solar panel facilities, under-floor heating, enhanced insulation, energy saving features, local electricity generation, rainwater management, sustainably sourced local construction materials, and modern methods of modular construction.

We are proud of the contribution that our team made to both the 3-year predevelopment phase and the 10-month construction period of the scheme. We would like to highlight the following services that we managed and delivered on behalf of Abbeyfield:

• Coordination of and contribution to local consultation processes including:

• The preparation of applications, presentations and interview attendance in support of grant applications.
• The coordination of benchmarking trips to other homes and facilities to ensure that the scope and quality of the proposed development was contemporary, entirely appropriate and met all expectations.
• The preparation of detailed financial analyses as part of Abbeyfields business planning and due diligence procedures (Board reports/presentations, HCA documents, other funders’ requirements).
• Securing and coordinating locally sourced labour, materials and voluntary contributions.
• Research and development work in respect of available innovative and sustainable technology and MMC
• options appraisals.

We were an integrated part of Abbeyfields internal management team; we attended all associated meetings that had a bearing on the scheme, including those of the board members and the final scheme management team. Our insistence on being fully immersed in the 3-year preconstruction process exceeded the remit of any ‘traditional’ project management commission, but it was the only way to ensure that there was a consistent link between the aspirational expectations of the multiple client stakeholders and the execution of a scheme that genuinely delivered on all fronts. We are delighted to have been involved with this successful scheme.

If you would like to speak to someone involved in these sectors please contact Sam McMillen, our Marketing Communications Manager who will be able to put you in touch with the appropriate contact. sam.mcmillen@rlf.co.uk or +44 (0)20 7566 8400