Winscombe Hall Care Home was boosted by Redrow Homes’ expertise with their walled garden project, following Covid-19 setbacks.

Weston Mercury: Redrow Homes have helped transform the disused swimming pool into a walled garden.Redrow Homes have helped transform the disused swimming pool into a walled garden. (Image: MCPHERSON PHOTOGRAPHY)

A Winscombe care home has received professional support for a gardening project, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Winscombe Hall Care Home has enlisted the help of Redrow Homes to transform an unused outdoor swimming pool into a walled garden for its residents.The estate’s 26-bedroom Victorian mansion offers dementia and Alzheimer’s specialist care.

Weston Mercury: The grounds at Winscombe Hall Care Home.The grounds at Winscombe Hall Care Home. (Image: MCPHERSON PHOTOGRAPHY)

Initial plans for the project were drawn up before the Covid-19 outbreak and aimed to give residents a scenic spot to relax and ‘watch the world go by’ in, but this was put on hold.

Housebuilders Redrow Homes, working on the nearby Woodborough Grange development, then offered its support – getting work underway by drilling holes to drain the pool and removing excess rubbish to begin the garden transformation.

Builders were also able to utilise excess rubble from the Woodborough site to fill the pool and begin the next phase of operations.

Redrow South West sales manager Charlotte Newnes said: “We are committed to helping the community in the areas where we build homes and I could not be prouder that we got to play a part in such a positive project.

“It has been a pleasure to support Winscombe Hall Care Homes’ newest venture.”

Winscombe Hall’s operations manager confirmed the home’s residents would also have a role to play in regards to the final designs as it is for their benefit.

Annie Cowell said: “Our residents’ experience and ease are of the utmost importance to us here at Winscombe Hall. That is why we have invested so much into making our outside areas as comfortable for them as possible.

“We have a lot of senior residents here who love coming outside to sit and watch the world go by, as well as taking their family and friends around the grounds when they come to visit. We wanted to create a space which is peaceful and reflects the sensory courtyard we built for our residents that live in the dementia wing.”

“This project is all about family values, spending time with loved ones and allowing residents to relax in a safe space. I cannot thank Redrow enough, Covid-19 has been tough for the care industry and thanks to their hard work we have a bit of fresh air and it allows us to start making a positive difference to all of our residents and visitors.”

Annie also stated that the care home plans to call upon children from nearby schools to help the project, although she acknowledges this has not been easy to manage with social distancing guidelines and changing restrictions on schools to stop the spread of the coronavirus.