Today in the Guardian, journalist Amelia Hill explores almshouses and the impact they are having on their residents.
‘Affordable and stress free’: how almshouses are the unsung heroes of UK social housing
She writes:
Every morning after he gets up, Gary Hiercock presses a green button outside his bedroom. That’s how the warden of his Leicester almshouse knows he’s up and about – that he hasn’t had a fall or become ill overnight.
“It’s just one example of how everything is thought of here: nothing is left to chance: everyone is safe at every moment of the day,” said the 71-year-old former department store manager. “I have absolutely no worries at all here. I’m completely content.”
Hiercock has lived in the Wyggestons Almshouses in Leicester for just over a year, since his partner of 53 years had to go into a care home with advanced Alzheimer’s.
“I start every day feeling happy and grateful to be here,” he said. “I was very isolated where I lived before but here, everyone is so friendly. If I’m ever feeling a bit lonely, I just need to go for a stroll and I’ll come across someone to do something with.”
To read the article in full, please click on the link here:
[Top photo: Kim and Terry Baxter at the second viewing of their new almshouse flat in Southwark, London. Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian]
posted 22 May 2023