Resident Stories

I’m up early and usually the first in the gym, at 8am. I like the cycling, the treadmill, the rowing machine and the weights.

Pannel Croft Village's Well-being Advisor Kate Gokova assists Sadrudin with advice on his diet and completing a diet monitoring chart.

“I am so happy,” says great-grandmother Winifred McLaren, whose life has been transformed since she moved into ExtraCare’s Hagley Road Village.

"Having the stroke has changed my life but I am coming to terms with it more now. Life is much better. Hagley Road Village is definitely the best place for me to be. If you feel a little bit fed up there’s always someone to chat to."

He started attending Otago classes at the Nottingham retirement village several years ago, and says that the classes have helped his condition.

Following my stay in hospital I have some care needs which ExtraCare have accommodated for. I give them ten out for ten for care. No ifs, no buts, they are absolutely spot on. They’re there for you and you can trust them to do what is best for you straight-away.

I have made lots of friends, everyone is just so nice. I recently celebrated my 93rd birthday and I was overjoyed to receive a surprise birthday cake with candles from my favourite staff in the village bistro.

Pearl, a widow in her seventies, moved into her apartment at the Village in 2010. A former theatre nurse, she naturally wanted to help other people and regularly called other residents to check on them and make sure they came down to the café for lunch. "Pearl looked after everybody else," said Tracey Moore, Head of Care at St Oswald’s.

Barbara is living at Lark Hill Village along with her 86-year-old husband Arthur.

‘Everything is under one roof and you can have a good social life without putting your hat and coat on.’

Ken says he wouldn’t want to live on his own. At Lark Hill Village, he knows he won’t be lonely. ‘I’m only a few yards away if I want company,’ he says. ‘It’s a wonderful place.’

Kathleen volunteers on reception and enjoys going to the gym at the village.