A Celebration of Housing for Later Life
At last the retirement housing sector has its own dedicated awards. At the inaugural event at Lords on Feb 4th around 340 guests, including designers, providers and managers of retirement housing and over 100 elderly residents were present to see 32 Awards handed out across 11 categories of retirement housing and housing with care. See photographs of the event
 | Uniquely, the finalists and the awards were determined by residents and not the industry –upholding the central aims of empowerment and listening to consumer feedback. Nominations for the awards had been submitted by the residents through an innovative game of cards designed to stimulate discussion and to capture satisfaction ratings on all aspects housing for later life. Read more about it. |
 | Lord Bill McKenzie, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, opened the proceedings, |
 | followed by a lively personal celebration of housing in later life given by the popular actress Liz Smith, now in her late 80s and herself resident of a retirement housing scheme. |
John Galvin, EAC CEO thanked the awards main funders, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Housing LIN of the DH Care Networks. He expressed EAC’s gratitude to all the sponsors and in particular to the two core sponsors Nationwide Building Society and Legal & General which have taken a keen interest in the housing needs of older people. See photographs of the event
The sponsors and supporters include a wide range of private organisations and management companies – including CHS, CIH, Dhu Rural, ERoSH, Gentoo Living, Keepmoat, Mainstay Residential Ltd, McCarthy & Stone Retirement Lifestyles, Retirement Villages Ltd, The Outside Clinic and Wates Living Space.
The event was also significant for processing valuable consumer feedback and collating the data in a timely report on the state of housing in later life in the UK. It is certain to develop as an annual yardstick for improvement and achievement in the sector. Launched on the day, the Awards Report linked to Report pdf describes the nomination process and analyses some the main themes discussed by the residents.
The Awards are one of four projects supported by the Ministerial Working Group on Sheltered Housing, the others being:
More than just a few kind words! Reshaping support in sheltered housing: a good practice guide for housing providers and local authorities Effective Resident Involvement and Consultation in Sheltered Housing: A good practice guide for providers and commissioners A Guide to Making Complaints for Sheltered Housing Residents