ExtraCare Charitable Trust opens second Milton Keynes retirement village

The 200 person capacity Shenley Wood Village is the second extra-care development to be opened in Milton Keynes by charity the ExtraCare Charitable Trust, after its first care village, Lovat Fields Village which opened in 2007, proved so successful that it was very quickly running to full capacity.

Having made a success of its retirement village portfolio, since it was founded in 1998, the charity has been able to work with the support of the Department of Health and the Homes and Communities Agency, as well as the Milton Keynes Council, in order to achieve affordable tenancies for people with minimal savings. Shenley Wood will see its first residents move in during March, with 184 apartments now available and with a further 116 scheduled for completion before this time next year.

Commenting on the charity’s latest development, chief executive Nick Abbey said ‘Over 1,300 households have registered their interest in our Milton Keynes villages – the demand is overwhelming.’ Despite extra care proving attractive to many, however, Mr Abbey still urged more vulnerable members of the community to come forward, stressing that ‘The Charity is keen to help.’

The ExtraCare Charitable Trust specialises in state-of-the-art care villages, having now developed thirty-one sites in the Midlands and North of England that are focused upon effective care provision, while allowing older people to enjoy an independent lifestyle surrounded by a range of amenities and comforts. Together with their own en-suite apartments, residents of Shenley Wood Village will have access to an on-site restaurant, numerous health and leisure activities, a village shops and a hairdressing and beauty salon.

Extra-care villages and provision that suits a more independent style of living for those with care needs continues to grow, as the sector embraces innovative ways of answering the many challenges of an ageing populace. Currently carehome.co.uk lists 1,545 extra-care villages registered in the UK, compared to 20,772 residential care homes.