Scottish specialist with 70-year heritage becomes part of tech pioneer
RESIDENTS in 14 Abbeyfield shared Houses – where the average age is 88 – have voted overwhelmingly to join Blackwood Homes and Care.
A secret ballot of 106 Abbeyfield residents earlier this year saw them vote by a 99% majority to transfer to Blackwood.
Now the move has been completed to become part of independent living specialist Blackwood, which is Scotland’s most tech-focused care and housing provider.
Nance Smith, Chair of Abbeyfield Scotland, said: “After much discussion and focusing on what matters most for our residents, they have now got a great solution for the future.
“The consultation was extensive and incredibly important to our residents, who wanted their voices and opinions to be heard. Happily, they felt this happened and have clearly endorsed the move in this vote.
“Personally, I am delighted to see this move being finalised, and want to pay tribute to my colleagues in Abbeyfield for helping this happen to secure the future for our residents. The transfer will allow more investment for residents’ homes and enhance their services to support them live independently and keep rents affordable.
“In Blackwood we have found an organisation which is absolutely committed to the same principles of independent living that Abbeyfield is defined by. It is an excellent match and one that gives both our staff and our residents security and peace of mind for years to come.’’
Both organisations are eminent in their sector, with Abbeyfield having been founded almost 70 years ago. Meanwhile, Blackwood is celebrating its 50th anniversary and is renowned for its accessible homes and adoption of technology to help people live more independently.
Julie McDowell, Chair of Blackwood said: “It is especially pleasing that the residents themselves approved this move and we’ll make sure they will stay happily in their homes with the staff they clearly value.
“Like Blackwood, Abbeyfield has a long history of helping people to live independently and we’re privileged to be able to continue its legacy.
“Our team really enjoyed meeting the residents and we look forward to building our relationship further with them and with their staff teams. We’ve had really good partnership discussions with Abbeyfield’s Board and senior staff to make this happen and I thank them for always putting the future of residents first.
“We’ll be bringing our services and technology to our new customers and 76 new staff members – creating a modern independent living model which we believe will be in great demand in all the communities Abbeyfield and Blackwood currently serve.”
Blackwood will be retaining all staff and services that Abbeyfield residents are accustomed to. As the population ages and more older Scots prefer to live independently, Blackwood’s expertise and financial stability will help the 14 Abbeyfield Houses to continue to flourish.
Both organisations are geographically dispersed across Scotland. The Abbeyfield Houses in Scotland include Nairn, Stonehaven, Greenock, Lockerbie, Coatbridge, Bridge of Allan, and Haddington among others. Blackwood operates more than 1500 houses and three care homes across 29 local authorities in Scotland.
Since 1972, Blackwood has provided accessible homes, aimed at maximising independent living – with innovation in design and technology being a key driving force. As well as celebrating its 50th anniversary this year it also promoted its Peoplehood programme, working with residents to create neighbourhoods of the future for independent living.
For more information, please visit: https://www.blackwoodgroup.org.uk
