Star status for Honiton home.

Abbeyfield in Honiton has achieved the gold standard for delivering and backing up a sterling service.

Residents and staff at the High Street home, which is run by an executive committee of volunteers, celebrated their award win last week.

The Gold Star was awarded by Abbeyfield in recognition of the home’s achievements in enhancing the quality of life for older people.

Stanley White, executive chairman of the home, said: “We wanted to have a home, not a house.

“What was required was excellence and we’ve done that here.”

Carol Capron, house manager, said: “We have been backing up everything with paperwork to support what we do.”

And Philip Pughe-Morgan, Abbeyfield’s regional head of strategy, has told staff in a letter that “...the quality of life is really lived and the documentation is just a reflection of this”.

He added: “This is a really splendid effort by you all.”

Joan Haywood has been the housekeeper at Abbeyfield for nine years. She said: “The ethos of the place is paramount.”

A recent open day raised �332.95 and has gone into the residents’ fund to pay for future trips out and entertainment.

Resident Arthur Harris, 102, told the Midweek Herald: “I feel that I am being cared for, which means I am able to do things.

“The atmosphere and friendship makes it like an enlarged family.”

Kathleen Stringer said: “We are free to go out when we like. We are in a lovely position, in the High Street, near the shops and amenities. I give Joan 11 out of 10 for her apple pie.”

And resident Elsie Keeney said: “I am a former hotelier and the food here is really good.

“Joan caters for everybody.

“How she remembers everything, I don’t know.”

The home can accommodate 10 residents, but currently has just eight.

It was opened on September 18 in 1973 by the then Bishop of Crediton, the Right Reverend WAE Westall, following a major campaign led by a local vicar and widely supported by local residents and organisations.

Based in Stanhope, the premises were extensively refurbished and extended to provide a comfortable home.