Care provider Belong to open integrated nursery in care village

The £21m state-of-the-art development is the non-profit care provider’s first intergenerational site.

The care village will offer independent living apartments, home care and households where 24-hour support and nursing care are available.

The 25-place nursery at Belong Chester will provide care and learning for children from birth to five years, six days a week, and is due to open in August following Ofsted approval.

It will be run by national charity Ready Generations, who say that the village and nursery teams will work closely together to create ‘a truly shared environment’ where children and older people can learn together and ‘build an active, intentional and collaborative community’ that includes every generation.

Sue Egersdorff, founder of Ready Generations, said, ‘We are very excited to bring children and young families into the Belong village model. Children and older people are intuitively playful together and can bring so much joy to each other’s lives.’

She added, 'A great deal of care and thought has gone into preparing the nursery environment, developing the curriculum and creating exciting experiences for the children and residents to share.'

Ahead of its opening, the team have already undertaken special training to better understand the needs of the young and old in this particular setting so that they can provide them with bespoke and memorable experiences.

The charity says it ‘advocates and investigates the benefits of connection between generations through education, the promotion of lifelong learning and experiences that place healthy relationships at the centre of everything.’

Ready Generation’s aim is to create an intergenerational community through on-site nursery provision at the Belong Chester care village.

Its intergenerational community-centred approach is designed to: 

• enhance individual and community capabilities and wellbeing
• support learning and development across ages
• create healthier places to live, learn and work
• bring people together to foster and strengthen relationships

All residents and members of the public will be able to access a bistro, gym, hair salon, therapy room, and entertainment venue in the care village.

Belong chief executive Martin Rix said, ‘The beauty of the village model is that we are able to offer a range of spaces and experiences, and give people the choice to join in as much or as little of village life as they choose. This is crucial in ensuring residents continue to feel connected and integrated within society, and we are particularly excited that Belong Chester will have this very special and new element for us, which is the integration of a children’s nursery.’

The nursery has appointed Ruth Sandbach (right) as manager. She said, 'I’ve always been passionate about child development and early learning, so having the unique opportunity to work in the region’s first integrated intergenerational nursery is exciting.

'The team aims to create a vibrant community where all can gain from sharing with each other, socialising and just being around one another. We all believe children, residents and families will benefit from this greatly and we can’t wait to see relationships being formed.'

• For more on the project, and the research behind it, see our interview with Sue Egersdorff, founder of Ready Generations in our August issue, out on 2 August, and online.