[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.76″ background_layout=”light” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
This is just what Barbara Friggens did some 80 years after being born in the same house as her cousin Corinne. Now the pair are living side by side again after Barbara encouraged Corinne and her husband to move to Churchill Retirement Living\u2019s King Harold Lodge in Waltham Abbey where Barbara owns a one-bedroom apartment with her husband John.<\/p>\n
In some ways they were continuing a family tradition.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother and Barbara\u2019s mother were sisters, and eventually in later life found themselves living side-by-side in a block similar to this,\u201d explains Corinne who moved with her husband John from the home they shared for 18 years in Enfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been so special to be able to do the same things together that our mothers did. What\u2019s even better is that I can pop out to see my cousin without having to put my coat on!\u201d<\/p>\n
Then the cousins persuaded their friends Maureen and Eddie Kay to move in too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a wonderful community spirit here at the Lodge \u2013 there\u2019s always something going on,\u201d enthused Maureen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s a fish and chip supper or cocktail making class in the Owners\u2019 Lounge, a trip to the local cinema or an afternoon cream tea somewhere, there\u2019s an impressive calendar of events for everyone to enjoy. It\u2019s obviously nice to be living in the same development as our friends too, so we\u2019re grateful they recommended it to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Collective downsizing means friends (and cousins) can all grow old together and have a safety net knowing they won\u2019t be alone.<\/p>\n
As Barbara adds, \u201cLooking towards the future, if one of us was to be left on our own it\u2019s much nicer to be here with a support network of friends and family around us, rather than all alone in a big three-bedroom house like the one we left behind.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince moving here I know I\u2019ve always got somebody nearby to look out for me, and of course I can also do the same in return.\u201d<\/p>\n
More and more developers are seeing friends and family looking to form communities in later life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a growing trend for friends to buy neighbouring apartments in retirement complexes,\u201d comments Neil MacKichan from the retirement property website Retiremove. \u201cAnd as we are all living longer it won\u2019t be long before we see clusters of several generations of one family moving into retirement developments and forming a communities of their own.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keeping friends and family together means you can carry on the life you enjoyed before without feeling isolated and cut off from those you love and care for.<\/p>\n
As Churchill CEO Spencer McCarthy says:\u201d It\u2019s a great way for siblings or cousins to re-connect with each other, and even for different generations to have the convenience of living under the same roof, but still with the privacy of their own front door.\u201d<\/p>\n