News at St. George's Park
24th February 2013: Sunday Telegraph Story : Thank You For The Music
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February 2013: Article in 'The Oldie' magazine by one of our residents
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January 29th 2013: Daily Express Feature 'Digging Deep - Sister does the honours'
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January 2013: MBE for Retirement Village Creator
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January 2013: St. George's Park Winter 2013 Newsletter
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March 2012: St. George's Park Winter 2012 Newsletter
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July 2011: St. George's Park Summer 2011 Newsletter
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December 2010: St. George's Park Highly Commended by UK Residential Property Awards
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October 2010: St. George's Park Joins an Elite Number of Winners as the UK Property Awards are Revealed
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June 2010: St. George's Park Winner of London Evening Standard New Homes Awards 2010
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November 2009: St. George's Park Winter 2009 Newsletter
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March 2009: South Downs Living Magazine
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December 2008: St. George's Park Voted UK's Best Retirement Development 2008
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15th June 2008: Sunday Times Retirement Special
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May 2008: St. George's are Winners of the Caring Business and Pinders Healthcare Design Awards 2008
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May 2008: St. George's Park Newsletter
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18th April 2008: Daily Mail UK Property
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November 2007: St George's Park Newsletter
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15th June 2007: Daily Mail Retirement Special
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May 2007: St George's Park Newsletter
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25th February 2007: Daily Mail Retirement Special
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28th September 2006: Daily Telegraph Retirement Supplement
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12th June 2006: The Argus
St George's Park receives the Prestigious Secure by Design award from the police. This award was presented in recognition of the wide ranging considerations for security.
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31st May 2006: The excellent development continues at St. George's Park
Phase 1a Maple Court and the grounds are well on the way for completion in late summer 2006:
21st April 2006: St. Georges Park in Daily Mail, Property Mail
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22nd January 2006: The Times, Living Space
The excellent work being done at St. George's Park gets noticed by The Times newspaper.
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31st August 2005: St. George's Park in Evening Standard, Home and Property
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17th April 2005: St. George's Park in Sunday Telegraph
The women behind this £58 million retirement village in Sussex
are not your typical property developers - as the wimples beneath the
hard hats prove. Cheryl Markosky pays them a visit
St George's Park is no ordinary retirement development. You might not
notice anything unusual when you drive through the iron gates off the
B2112 between Haywards Heath and Ditchling, East Sussex, and first glimpse
the handsome late-Victorian buildings set in 250 acres, with a lake,
farm and woodlands. But once inside the mosaic-tiled hallway of the
main block you are met with a large figure of Christ above the reception
desk, which is manned not by a concierge but nuns from the Augustinian
Order - The Sisters of St Augustine of the Mercy of Jesus. To the right
is a marketing suite "pod", its advertising displays of new
apartments in sharp contrast with the tranquillity of the nuns going
about their business.
That business is changing. The order was set up in the mid-19th century
as a retreat for the mentally ill, and today the sisters' charity, Augustinian
Care, runs this care home for the elderly in Sussex, as well as three
others, in Buckinghamshire, Devon and Scotland. But now the sisters
are extending to the next level. "Six years ago we started looking
for ideas to fund a modern care home and we knew we had to build to
meet new government standards," says Sister Thomas, who is head
of care at St George's. "Continuing care, which was rare then but
now is more focused, was a way of taking the vision of our founder forward.
It was either that or say goodbye to everything we had done here."
The sisters have opted for a £58 million scheme for the over-60s
comprising 225 apartments in the old care home and surrounding grounds,
along with a community building with restaurant, bar, shop, hairdresser,
library, gym, games room and treatment rooms. Outside there will be
a bowling green, tennis court, leisure centre, refurbished chapel, fishing
lake and a sauna. There is even talk of a car club, allotments and pretty
much anything else residents fancy (an archery club is one suggestion),
as long as the nuns approve.
Sister Thomas admits that the charity is able to build such a viable
community only "because we have the advantage of having grounds",
though it is exactly the sort of retirement village the country needs
more of. By 2020, it is estimated that more than 12 million (19·3
per cent) of the UK population will be over the age of 65 - a 28·4
per cent increase on the current figure (9·36 million). On average,
3,000 private sheltered homes are built each year, but a minimum of
35,500 homes per year will have to be built in 15 years' time to meet
demand. Britain will face a shortfall of 62,500 such homes if the number
being built fails to increase.
Frequently couples are split up when one needs 24-hour care and the
other does not. This will not be the case at St George's Park, however,
because a husband or wife can remain living in their apartment while
their spouse is in the care home next-door. Various levels of care will
be available, whether it is serving a resident meals in their apartment
or, in the case of those with Alzheimer's, far more specialised.
'We are in the business of caring," says Sister Thomas, who will
be able to look after 180 people in the new care home. It is being paid
for with the proceeds from the sale of the two-bedroom, two-bathroom
apartments, which are priced from £289,000 to £399,000.
"We want to improve services for people here in a vibrant village
and give more choice with domiciliary care."
As twinkly-eyed and kindly as the sisters appear, they are no slouches
when it comes to business. Both Sister Thomas and the Superior General,
Sister Monica, have been at St George's for 40 years and are heavily
involved in deciding what services will be offered.
"We looked at quite a few retirement places to pick up tips and
give us some idea of what works and what doesn't," says Sister
Monica. She and Sister Thomas are far too polite to say what they didn't
like, though these days they would be lucky to avoid pricey developments
offering cramped accommodation, questionable care and entertainment
in the form of a weekly bingo night followed by a Second World War singsong
round an out-of-tune piano in a chintzy lounge.
As for their own development, the sisters have done well to get it built
at all. "They have worked miracles to get the planning permission
for a scheme this size in a sensitive area," says Andrew Surgenor,
from the property consultant Savills, who advises developers and investors
on healthcare accommodation. It is, he says, still in its infancy in
this country. "This is very innovative and distinctive, with a
high provision of care beds. The sisters have done their homework, with
the emphasis on high-quality facilities - the current standard is 12sq
m rooms in care homes and they are planning virtually double that with
en suites. Extra care is the current buzzword from the Government, and
this really is a village in the true sense. There are even plans to
integrate it with minibuses running into the nearby towns."
One drawback of other retirement developments can be escalating service
charges, which those on fixed incomes find alarming. Philip Smith, the
sales and marketing director, says: "Here the charges will be quite
low - £72·80 a week compared with an average of £110
- and subsidised for the first three years until all the residents are
on board. The restaurant and bar will be subsidised for residents and
profits from visitors will go towards service charges."
Now the diggers are busy levelling the ground after a recent service
to bless the building work, and the first phase of 34 apartments at
Máes and Maple Courts should be completed by summer 2006, along
with the community building. Potential buyers need not be Catholics.
"We have been non-denominational all our lives," says Sister
Thomas. "The chapel is there, but it is totally up to residents
as to how involved they want to be with regards to religion." However,
it should be noted that the Augustinian charity running the development
has first refusal on resales and sellers must give 20 per cent of any
profits back. Although most buyers are unlikely to object to that, some
might balk at such a restriction.
Philip Smith has been working alongside the nuns - his boss is Sister
Monica - since December and says that they are neither stern nor stuffy.
He recalls watching the England v Ireland rugby match with the sister
on reception. "She knew more of the players' names than me,"
he says. "And last week I was stopped and asked if I had any tips
for the Grand National. "
31st January 2005: New Marketing Suite Now Open
St George's Park New Marketing suite opened this week offering you the
opportunity to admire the superb location set within 250 acres of outstanding
natural beauty. The Suite has a life like model of the development,
plasma screen and presentation displays.
The Marketing Suite is open Monday - Saturday between 9.00a.m. And 5.30
p.m. Sunday's between 10.00a.m. And 4.00p.m. The Sales and Marketing
Director Philip Smith or the Sales Consultant Eileen Perrin will be
delighted to answer any queries you may have. The Site has now been
cleared and the first footings are due to go in shortly.
30th November 2004: Our website is launched!
As the waiting list grows even longer the enabling ground works continue apace.
Unfortunately, a number of trees had to be felled (but many were found to be diseased). These will be replaced by planting over 2000 new trees by the end of the development.
A new electricity substation was commissioned on Saturday 20th November and the laundry was relocated on Wednesday 24th November. The demolition of a number of outbuildings is now well underway and completion during December is expected to be on time.
A new marketing suite is close to being completed inside the existing St George's complex. This will be just in time for the Sales & Marketing Director – Philip Smith, who joins us on 6th December.
Click here to get in contact with us!
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