When a string of issues and health problems arose for Shiela Martland, she decided it was time to move somewhere more manageable than her four-bedroom West London flat. With her family’s help, she looked at a range of different options but couldn't find that special somewhere. She hadn’t really considered moving to a retirement community, but when she saw an advert in the paper for a new Churchill Retirement Living development in Worthing, the same town as her son, curiosity got the better of her.
“I am so relieved to be here,” Shiela says. “It’s worked out very well and I am very happy. I came to visit the week before they opened, in June 2011, and really liked it, especially the Owners’ Lounge. I made a reservation immediately. I didn’t even see the flat I was going to buy, but there was a similar one already finished and it was very nice.”
Selling her old home didn’t go as smoothly as Shiela hoped, she then contracted shingles in September and then early in December Sheila’s knee gave way one day when she was getting off the bus. Time was slipping by and the series of mishaps made her worry about losing her reservation at Catherine Lodge.
“Karen the sales lady kept in constant contact reassuring me,” she says. “Churchill were so good. Their solicitors were fantastic, and everyone really tried to help me.”
She was finally able to exchange contracts in February 2012 and moved in on the 24th and her life has changed for the better in many ways.
“I’m quite a sociable person and the people here are too,” Sheila says. “The Lodge Manager is extremely nice and helpful. We have weekly coffee mornings and afternoons which is a great opportunity to catch up with my neighbours. We have a general knowledge quiz once a month and have just started doing Keep Fit with a professional trainer every couple of weeks. We also have fish and chip lunches once a month, occasional ploughman’s lunches, Chinese on a Saturday night, and when it’s someone’s birthday they usually provide cakes. As you can see, a lot of it involves food.”
Being near the family is good too. Timothy, his wife Rebecca and children, twelve year old Thomas and nine year old Beth, are just five minutes away by car and Sheila sees them very regularly. Timothy often drops in on his way home from work, and she usually goes to their house for Sunday lunch.
Catherine Lodge comprises private, self-contained apartments that are specially designed for retired Owners, with security features such as a video-entry system, a 24 hour Careline and on-site Lodge Manager. Communal facilities include an Owners’ Lounge and Guest Suite, a laundry room and landscaped gardens. Like all Churchill Retirement Living Developments, the location has been chosen for convenience. Catherine Lodge is close to local facilities including shops, banks, healthcare, and restaurants, Field Place leisure complex and park, and is just a short walk from Durrington station.