A scheme to build Extra Care housing in Carlisle has today (Monday 21 July) been awarded £4.7 million of Government funding.
'Extra Care' combines all the advantages of sheltered housing with the type of round-the-clock care provided by residential homes. People still have their own front door, and are supported by an on-site care and support team.
In Extra Care housing, tenants experience greater privacy and independence; couples can stay together, there are leisure and social opportunities on site, and the properties can be for rent or sale.
The scheme for Low Meadow, Brookside, in Carlisle, will be the first of its kind in Cumbria. Extra Care housing enables more older people and those with dementia and long-term conditions to live in a home of their own.
A joint project, involving the county council, Carlisle City Council, Eden Housing Association and the PCT, underpinning the whole scheme is a commitment by all parties to promote 'quality of life'. The partners will be working towards ensuring independence, choice, health and wellbeing, and support for community involvement in the scheme.
- Cumbria County Council will be commissioning care services for the scheme, to provide a team on site 24/7
- Carlisle City Council is providing teh land where the Extra Care housing will be built
- Eden Housing Association will be providing housing management and support services
- Cumbria PCT will, through its provider of community nursing and other services, deliver domiciliary care to the residents of the new development.
Carlisle's £4.7 is part of £80 million of Government funding for 25 sites across the UK, providing an extra 2,035 Extra Care residences.
County Councillor Bill Wearing is Cabinet Member for adult health and wellbeing. He said:
"This is fantastic news, and has been achieved by real partnership working.
"Importantly, it is about letting people make their own decisions about their living arrangements, and putting their wellbeing at the heart of everything we do.
"This new development will play a major role in providing older people and others in Carlisle with greater choice and independence."
Carlisle city councillor Owlyn Luckley, Portfolio holder for Health and Wellbeing, said:
"There has been an identified need for extra care housing in Carlisle and the proposed development helps meeting this demand. The partnership approach by the city council, county council, Eden Housing Association and the PCT is moving the scheme forward for the benefit of some of our most vulnerable residents.
"The Government funding is a major boost for the scheme and will inject some much needed cash into a worthy, local scheme"
Paul Davies, the Chief Executive of Eden Housing Trust, said:
"We are delighted to be involved in this project; we had already been doing some preparation work, ahead of finding out whether or not the bid had been successful, so we are well on course to begin work around April/May of next year."
Dr Peter Weaving is Cumbria Primary Care Trust’s Locality Lead GP for Carlisle. He said:
"As well as providing older people in Carlisle with more choice and independence, the new facility will enable the NHS locally to explore new ways of delivering preventative healthcare information to the scheme’s residents and the wider community."
"The Primary Care Trust will also be seeking to use some of the ideas around this scheme as part of its on-going plans to develop health campuses in Cumbria."
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