A Hull housing initiative has been named as the best in the country at a national awards ceremony.
Newbridge Village, which includes the revolutionary Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre, has scooped the top award for older people’s housing at the UK Housing Development Awards.
The development of 82 bungalows for those aged over 55 was built by Hull social housing provider Pickering and Ferens Homes on land donated by Hull City Council and alongside The Jean Bishop Centre partners CityCare and the NHS.
Newbridge Village is thought to be the only development nationally where housing for older people shares a site with a full-service health centre and a fire station with service personnel trained in dealing with falls.
A brilliant photo of all the winners from the @IHDevelopment Awards last night – including us and Hull City Council! #ihdawards pic.twitter.com/dzuu5VRmPi
— Pickering & Ferens (@PFH_Hull) 28 November 2019
Councillor John Black, Hull City Council’s portfolio holder for housing, said: “It’s a well-deserved win for the Newbridge Village partnership because it demonstrates the city’s commitment to placing care facilities where they are needed most and providing homes which best suit the needs of older people.”
The Jean Bishop care centre was opened in 2018 by one of the city’s most recognisable fundraisers, Jean Bishop, known to many as the Bee Lady.
The Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre.
The first of its type in the UK, it has transformed care for older people in Hull by providing out-of-hospital care, enabling residents to keep fit, healthy and living independently in their own homes.
Claire Warren, chief executive of Pickering and Ferens Homes, said the aim of the Newbridge Village development was to ensure older patients had support nearby.
She said: “Our aim is for the scheme to have a positive impact on the local area and wider community by increasingly providing housing and close by support to patients with long-term health conditions and illnesses associated with older age.
“As the community is supported to live healthier, longer and more independent lives, their quality of life improves too.”
