Contemporary apartments for older people opened

Sovereign Housing Association's Redwood House and Lindley Lodge, which provide 74 affordable homes for older persons, were officially opened recently at a ceremony attended by Sovereign's regional director for Berkshire, Nicole Sharp, West Berkshire Council chairman Jeff Beck (Con, Clay Hill) and former town mayor Martin Crane.
The chairman of Redwood and Lindley Residents' Association, Brian Edwards, cut a specially made cake.
The development comprises Lindley Lodge, which has 29 one-and-two-bedroom apartments for rent with extra-care facilities and additional support services.
Redwood House, the third extra-care scheme in West Berkshire, includes a restaurant, kiosk shop, and a hair salon. The two modern apartment blocks sit on land previously occupied by The Priory and Platt Court, where there were 33 flats which were no longer fit for purpose.
One particularly positive aspect of the developments is the thriving residents' association, which is organising regular social events such as coffee mornings and bingo, and is planning to organise day trips and barbecues this summer.
The group has raised £500 to support their activities.
The secretary of the association is long-term Hungerford resident Betty Morrison, aged 71, who moved into a two-bedroom ground-floor apartment at Lindley Lodge after her husband, Ronald, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
She said: "Community spirit is building. People have come from different places, and we are starting to make friendships with the other residents. Ronald loves it here. He mixes with other people and that's great for both of us."
Mr Beck paid tribute to the late Hungerford district councillor David Holtby, who helped champion the development and died last year and so did not see it reach fruition.
He said: "He would have been extremely proud of what's here today, and we owe him a great debt of gratitude for the effort he put in."
Speaking on behalf of Hungerford Town Council, Mr Crane said: "It's a great privilege to come here today. I was there when Sovereign presented their plans and I thought it was too good to be true. But it is true - they have actually fulfilled almost everything that they said they would do."