{"id":17808,"date":"2015-05-03T12:36:25","date_gmt":"2015-05-03T11:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/?p=17808"},"modified":"2015-06-03T11:59:34","modified_gmt":"2015-06-03T10:59:34","slug":"communities-for-working-retirees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/communities-for-working-retirees\/","title":{"rendered":"Communities for working retirees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bluebell\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

JANE SLADE discovers that you don\u2019t have to retire to live in a retirement community, working retirees are welcome too<\/h3>\n

Although he gave up his full-time job 15 years ago, Michael Jackson (pictured above)\u00a0missed the daily routine \u2013 and at the age of 75 still heads off to work two days a week.<\/p>\n

Michael volunteers\u00a0as a part-time stationmaster on the Bluebell Railway at Kingscote Station, just four miles from his new home at Charters Village, on the outskirts of East Grinstead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI missed getting up every day and travelling to work,\u201d says the former re-insurance employee.<\/p>\n

Michael is part of a new generation, best described as the “active retired” \u2014 a phenomenon driven by increased life expectancy, better pension planning and even greater opportunities to live life to the full.<\/p>\n

Free of family duties, and with savings or equity released from downsizing from large family homes, this 55+ generation are expanding their horizons in a variety of ways, notably by travelling further and more frequently than their own parents and grandparents and returning to the workplace either as a paid employee or volunteer.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy daily duties include checking the station is safe and secure, observing activities on the lines, selling and checking tickets and ensuring all is in order, even down to the cleanliness of the toilets\u201d adds Michael who six months ago moved with his wife Pamela from their six-bedroom detached house in East Grinstead, East Sussex to a two-bedroom bungalow at Charters retirement village nearby.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>

A cgi aerial view of Charters Village in East Grinstead<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cEven though we are both still very active we decided it was time to downsize,\u201d adds Michael who also gives talks about the history of the Bluebell Railway.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur bungalow is so spacious and in the most beautiful setting. Surrounded by a meadow and beautiful gardens, I can enjoy the attractive grounds without worrying about maintaining them!<\/p>\n

\u201cCharters has given us everything we were looking for but most importantly it is close to the railway for work,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n

Charters Village, run by Retirement Villages (www.retirementvillages.co.uk<\/a>), occupies a 16-acre site and comprises 33 one and two bedroom homes and a 60-bed nursing home.<\/p>\n

A second phase of a further 49 properties will be sold off plan from September priced around \u00a3300,000 for a one-bed apartment. Currently available is a two-bedroom apartment in the clubhouse for \u00a3425,000.<\/p>\n

Facilities include a grand hall, conservatory, restaurant, library, bar and multi-function room where singing sessions, Zumba classes, picnics and pop-up shops are organised.<\/p>\n

\"Leighton<\/a>

Leighton Yorath, photographed at Richmond Bede Village in Bedworth where he lives, with the van\u00a0which he drives to deliver\u00a0NHS prescriptions.<\/p><\/div>\n

Miner\u2019s son Leighton Yorath, 75, lives in Richmond Bede Retirement village (www.www.richmond-villages.com<\/a>) near Coventry and works full time driving between 60 and 70 miles a day delivering medication for a local pharmacy.<\/p>\n

He was just 60 when he retired but wasn\u2019t ready to put his feet up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started out as a part time job doing just a few hours a day but now I work from 9-6.30 five days a week,\u201d says the former council worker.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like getting out and about meeting people. I\u2019m well taken care of at the village so I have time to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a job gives me a reason to get up in the morning. I also have time for others and drop in for a cup of tea to people I deliver to.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome are very glad to see me as I\u2019m the only one they may chat to or see all day.<\/p>\n

\u201cA retirement village is the ideal place if you are on your own, widowed or divorced because there are always people around if you want friends. I\u2019m never lonely. There are lots of activities and can provide extra care if you need it. I don\u2019t intend moving again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leighton, a widower, paid \u00a360,000 for his one-bedroom flat years ago and \u00a3280 a month for charges \u2013 \u201cIt\u2019s good value,\u201d he says, \u201cas it includes my utility bills\u201d. One-bed assisted-living apartments now cost from \u00a385,000 and from \u00a3110,000 for independent.<\/p>\n

The newly-refurbished village has a restaurant, caf\u00e9, library, bowling green and hair salon, as well as 60 care-bedrooms.<\/p>\n

Also at Bede is a resident who commutes to London two days a week working for one of the members of the House of Lords.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are living proof that you don\u2019t have to retire to live in a retirement village,\u201d adds Leighton who also enjoys driving his touring caravan on holidays to France.<\/p>\n

Anthony Hancock, 79, and his wife Margaret, 72, recently relocated to a Blue Cedar Homes retirement community in the Somerset village of Wrington after spending the past 15 years living in France.<\/p>\n

\"\u00a9<\/a>

Expats Tony & Margaret Hancock who live in Blue Cedar home at Brook Gardens, Wrington.<\/p><\/div>\n

Retired lawyer Tony said: “For people moving back to the UK after they have retired, this kind of set up is absolutely ideal. It provides a small, ready-made community within the community with no worries about upkeep.\u201d<\/p>\n

He and Margaret, who are keen sailors, run a French conversation group for the locals, play croquet and have joined a music association. Anthony is also secretary of the twinning association (Wrington is twinned with Villeneuve-les-Beziers).<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the French classes we have met a number of local people of varying ages and we are now planning to run SKYPE sessions with our twinning partners in France,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Devon-based Cedar Homes (www.bluecedarhomes.co.uk<\/a>) has built nine gated enclaves of 10-20 homes in Bristol, Wales, Somerset and the West Country for active over 55s. They are sold freehold and priced from \u00a3300,000 for a three-bed home in Abergavenny with parking.<\/p>\n

Managing Director Nick Hole says: \u201cWe coined the phrase \u201cactive retired\u201d for our customers because the majority enjoy busy lives.<\/p>\n

Most would not consider themselves old nor ready to retire from life. In fact, many still work and do voluntary work in the community if they\u2019re not on holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JANE SLADE discovers that you don\u2019t have to retire to live in a retirement community, working retirees are welcome too Although he gave up his full-time job 15 years ago, Michael Jackson (pictured above)\u00a0missed the daily routine \u2013 and at the age of 75 still heads off to work two days a week. Michael volunteers\u00a0as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17812,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[44],"yst_prominent_words":[2435,6276,7991,7988,7990,1324,7982,7987,3632,7992,7983,7989,7985,7986,262,3514,280,3172,7984,195],"class_list":["post-17808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk","tag-uk-2"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-01 12:02:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17808"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18119,"href":"https:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17808\/revisions\/18119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17808"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=17808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}