Havering’s sheltered housing checked out by Basildon Council

Officers from Basildon Council’s sheltered housing team have been on a fact finding visit to one of Havering Council’s flagship sheltered housing schemes – Garrick House in Hornchurch.

Deputy Leader of Havering Council and Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Damian White, said: “We are very proud of the work done to make Garrick House more accessible for people with dementia and during the next year will be looking to decorate our other sheltered housing schemes in a similar style. Providing strong colours helps people find their way to and from the communal facilities and reassures them they are not lost.

“We were pleased to welcome officers from Basildon Council’s sheltered housing team to be shown round by Garrick House Scheme Officer Kelly Murray and Sheltered Housing Manager Sharon Nunn so we could share with them our experiences and hear about the work they have been doing.”

Basildon Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing and Community Safety, Councillor Anthony Hedley, said: “With 47 sheltered housing schemes and 30 staff Basildon Council has significantly more people living in such housing than Havering but we share many of the same issues of concern.

“Making schemes suitable for people with dementia so they can continue living as independent a life as possible is a challenge for every council and we were interested to see the work done by Havering Council to make Garrick House more ‘dementia friendly’ – there are certainly some ideas there we can look at using here in Basildon.”

The Basildon Council officers who visited were Sheltered Housing Manager, Joanne Clements; Development and Investment Officer, Sabina Leverton and Principal Housing and Regeneration Strategy Officer, Tina Wynn.