Care village developers thank local community for saving building

A Leeds community that refused to let go of a treasured historic building has made the opening of a state-of-the-art £5m care village possible, according to one of the region’s leading care providers.

Seacroft Grange care village has been developed on the site of a Grade II listed building that was falling into disrepair. Built in 1627, originally known as Tottie Hall, the property began life as the home of the Lord of the Manor of Seacroft, before later being used as a school and adult education centre.

Derelict for twenty years, the building was at risk of demolition and only saved by the efforts of local campaign group the Seacroft Residents Association, until it was purchased by Springfield Healthcare Group in 2010 and transformed into a care village ideal for older people with a wide range of needs.

Lily Woods, chair of the Seacroft Residents Association, is delighted with the result, commenting: “The local residents have protected this building for many years, hoping it would eventually be put to good use. We are so pleased with the work Springfield have done. It looks beautiful and has done a lot for the community, including providing new jobs.”

Founder and chief executive of Springfield Healthcare Group, Graeme Lee, is excited to see the company’s vision become a reality. On the care village’s service qualities he says:

“Finding the right care for a family member can be an extremely stressful process. Our model helps families make an informed choice earlier in the planning process and then moves with the needs of individuals or couples as their care needs progress, at the same time ensuring long term consistency where the care team and quality of information are concerned. We believe this is what the government wants when it talks about integrated healthcare and joined-up thinking from the people in charge of that care.

“After the standard of care itself, one of the most important things for family members is to ensure that their loved one is able to have as normal and independent a life as possible. “Whilst many care homes provide excellent facilities, none provide the exceptional on-site facilities and day-to-day links with the local community that you can experience at Seacroft Grange.

“At the heart of our care village is a Grade 2 listed building which will be the basis for all our social and community activities and houses a cinema, therapy spa and gym, hair salon and coffee shop that wouldn't look out of place on the high streets of York or Harrogate.

“As well as exceptional views over the village green, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book. People and families can be seen going about their daily business and, unusually, we have every single community amenity including medical centres, pharmacy, pub, library, church, post office, supermarket and bus station, all within 100 metres.

"Together, these facilities provide a unique approach and we expect Seacroft Grange to be very popular."

The 1.9m investment made in Seacroft Grange is part of a larger £4.4m investment aimed at expanding the Springfield Healthcare Group brand and vision.