Residents celebrate three years since state-of-the-art Rugby care home opened

People living at Drovers House in Rugby invited the town’s mayor to officially mark three years since their purpose-built specialist dementia care home opened.

Cllr Sally Bragg joined celebrations at the £6.2 million complex located on the old Cattle Market site, and home to 75 older people and people with dementia. It’s run by Warwickshire-based charity WCS Care, which operates 12 care homes across the county, with a 13^th being opened later this year.

First opening its doors in September 2013, Drovers House was designed to create an environment based around facilitating, not dictating, the delivery of personalised care and features open plan areas that enable people to see what is going on and to encourage them to join in.

Domestic-scale rooms help provide familiarity for people with dementia, and there are social and quiet areas that help cater for different moods and personalities.

There are six households at Drovers House, each containing en-suite rooms with a personalised front door, a communal open-plan lounge, dining area and kitchen.

There are vibrant community facilities including an on-site shop to pick up groceries, a coffee shop serving drinks and cakes, a hair salon and a relaxing spa, all created to help residents confidently carry on doing the things they’ve always done.

Facilities are available 24/7 for residents, as well as for people who don’t live at Drovers House but want somewhere safe, supportive and fun to go.

Drovers House is also one of only a small number of care homes in the county to be able to offer double rooms for residents wanting to live together or to provide extra space for relatives who are visiting.

Muriel and Peter Farley have been married for over 67 years and moved in to Drovers House together earlier this year. Muriel, a former fundraiser who lived in nearby Barby for many years with Peter, said: ‘We had relatives who lived across the road from the Cattle Market, so we saw Drovers House being built whenever we visited and thought it looked like a great home. ‘We’ve been married for almost 70 years so it was really important for us to stay together in our new home and we were delighted that we found somewhere that this was possible.’

Peter, a former college Principal, added: ‘Living at Drovers House means we’re able to live our life naturally and feel free to do what we’ve always done – we’d certainly recommend living here, particularly if you’re a couple.’

Rugby’s Mayor, Cllr Sally Bragg, visited Drovers House on Friday 23^rd September 2016 to help mark the special occasion by joining residents for an Oomph! exercise and wellness class, and a celebratory buffet.

Cllr Bragg said: ‘I was delighted to be invited along to join residents as they celebrated three years at Drovers House – it’s the second time I’ve been here and I continue to be impressed with the level of care, friendliness and warmth of the staff, and the ethos of the home.

‘It’s made a great contribution to the Cattle Market development and surrounding area, and I’m sure people living at Drovers House are proud to be an important part of the local community.’

Christine Asbury, WCS Care’s Chief Executive, said: ‘Drovers House is our first purpose-built home and uses best design practice to normalise life for people with dementia, delivered alongside the high quality care that is a given in a WCS Care home.

‘During the last three years, we’ve continued to push the use of innovative technology and approaches in our homes, and Drovers House has been key to some of those developments that we’re rolling out to ensure every day is well lived.’

A time capsule was buried at Drovers House when it opened in 2013, containing personal stories of key people involved with WCS Care, photographs, menus and others examples of how the charity provided care in 2013.