Sheltered housing group is first in the region to achieve the award

A SOCIETY has been left seeing stars after it received the highest accolade for enhancing the quality of life for older people in Colyton.

The Abbeyfield Colyton Society Ltd, which provides sheltered housing and on-site support in Marjorie Baker House to allow elderly residents to live independently for as long as possible, recently received the coveted gold standard in recognition of its achievements.

A special announcement was made during a meeting of the society’s members last Friday (July 29)at the Methodist Church Hall after it received the final confirmation of the award.

The chairman of the Abbeyfield Colyton Society Hilary Simon said: “We are very excited and delighted about receiving the Abbeyfield gold standard because it means we are the first in this part of the South West to receive the gold standard.

“It is great news but it has required a lot of hard work.”

In order to receive the coveted gold standard the society had to meet a strict criteria of 95 different guidelines and was marked on areas including residents and their wellbeing, staff and training, volunteers and leadership.

Mrs Simon added: “We are absolutely committed to making sure we give the best quality possible to our residents and anything that can help us do that we want to get involved in.

“The award means Abbeyfield are confident in the quality of service for residents and that staff and trustees have got the qualities, experience and skills to ensure we do produce good quality, supportive services for people and that it is the best it can be. We want people to have a good and happy life living with us.”

“It shows we are capable of meeting the highest possible standards and that we have got the skills within the board of trustees to be able to do this.

The new gold standard has been a sense of pride for society members, staff and residents and will lead the way for an even brighter future.

The society is already looking at increasing resident numbers for the future from 13 to 15 as it finishes work to convert a staff flat into to appartments,