Rob Martin, Care Services Managing Director, Anchor
Creating more and better homes where people can live happily and healthily in later life is at the heart of everything we do at Anchor. Our “more homes” strategic objective has always been about creating new homes as well as investing in our existing homes and services to meet the changing needs and aspirations of our current and future residents. Anchor’s new Wharfeside care home in Otley, Yorkshire is a great example of this, and we were thrilled to open the doors to the new care home in October.
We have experience when it comes to opening new care homes, but what’s different about this one was the plan to re-locate residents from our nearby Teal Beck House care home (less than 0.5miles away) to the brand-new Wharfeside care home. This is a plan we have been working towards for some time, we have an older style care home (over 30 years old) that unfortunately doesn’t meet the standards our resident require today.
Residents, families, and colleagues are really excited about the move, it has generated so much energy and will have measurable benefits to resident wellbeing.
A brand-new purpose-built care home, Wharfeside is set in beautiful surroundings and equipped with modern facilities. With 66 en-suite bedrooms and a wealth of on-site facilities including communal roof terraces, a coffee shop, cinema, bar area and hairdressing salon, Wharfeside is built to provide a safe and comfortable environment for residents.
Residents can enjoy the riverside views and the variety of outdoor communal spaces designed as places to relax and socialise. We also recognise the importance of innovation and are proud of the sustainability and energy-efficiency features of the new home. Wharfeside has an Energy Performance A rating and is bigger than Teal Beck House, ensuring we are able to meet future demand in an effective way. A bigger home means there are more opportunities for people in the area to find a meaningful career in the care sector and for existing colleagues to develop their careers.
Investing in Wharfeside is part of our wider growth plan, to ensure we meet future demand in an effective way. The strong, established care team from Teal Beck House will be moving across to the new home after it opens in October. It’s been great fun going on the build journey with the team and seeing everyone’s reaction when taking them on tours of the new home. We’ve received an amazing response from colleagues who have all commented on the fantastic views, spacious rooms, and modern facilities. Residents have also been involved in every step of the journey and the new care home and its state-of-the-art facilities will improve the quality of resident’s lives on a day-to-day basis. When visiting residents locally, so many have expressed their excitement to move into their new home, see their rooms and enjoy new experiences together in this wonderful space.
The older Teal Beck House care home is being re-purposed for Social Housing with detailed plans and an approach to follow.
In addition to opening Wharfeside, we’ve made some exciting and strategic care home acquisitions this year, including 11-purpose built homes from Halcyon Care Homes Topco Limited and two freehold residential care homes under construction from Hadrian Healthcare Group. These acquisitions, which will bring the total number of Anchor care homes to 127, will broaden our provision of care and extend our presence into more areas of the country. The opening of Wharfeside care home, along with these acquisitions, demonstrates our ongoing commitment to create more and better homes where people love living in later life and to create more opportunities for people to find a fulfilling career working in the social care sector.