Hotel to be turned into specialist homes for disabled islanders

Friday 20 August 2021

A local charity is set to transform Hampshire Hotel into a specialist nursing care facility with sheltered accommodation for islanders with learning disabilities and associated conditions.

The Val Plaisant-based ‘Maison Les Amis’, as it will be known, will offer long-term homes to adults with learning disabilities who have nursing or special care needs including those with early on-set dementia, which particularly affects those with pre-existing learning disabilities

The buildings will include a number of self- contained apartments for those able to maintain some independence into their later years.

The charity has been working on the facility, which will be the first of its kind in the island, for several years.

Plans for a 24 residential units and one visiting family unit, to be built at Evelina Court on the eastern side of La Rue de Samares in St. Clement, were submitted in 2017 but ultimately fell through.

Pictured: Val Plaisant-based Hampshire Hotel, which will be transformed to make way for Les Amis' new facility.

“It’s been a long journey to get us to this point, so we are thrilled to be able to announce that with the support of a very significant private donation we now have a firm site in a convenient location to offer services and accommodation at a higher level," Shaun Findlay, Managing Director of Les Amis, said.

"With the number of those with dementia on the island set to double over the next 20 years, we consider that developing Maison Les Amis is vital to providing the exceptional long-term care which we are known for.

“Whilst Maison Les Amis will offer huge benefits to the community, it is also a very significant project for a charitable organisation such as Les Amis, and one that will require external financial support. As such, we will be continuing with our own fundraising efforts as well as actively seeking further grant or sponsorship support.”

As well as reducing Les Amis’ carbon footprint, the central location will offer residents and service users the benefit of easy access to good transport links, the local community and high street shops. The site also offers plenty of parking.

The charity says creating the facility in an existing building will also help it save costs on construction. Plans are now being developed to transform the hotel so that the facility can meet the relevant standards and to enable the installation of 'state of the art equipment' to help care for the increasing number of islanders living with a form of dementia.

“This is fantastic news for our island where the growing and ageing population is putting existing services under incredible pressure," Mr Findlay said. "Having these facilities to care for those with special needs throughout their lives will provide them with a better quality life and be a great comfort and support for their families and loved ones.”

Pictured top: Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Stewart Mourant MBA, and Trustee and Chair of the Board of Les Amis Limited, Leslie Norman outside the Hampshire Hotel.