Norton Place celebrates its 20th anniversary
Norton Place support project in Exmouth is home to 10 residents mainly living independently in six bungalows and four flats and in a lovely small community cul de sac. Most of the residents have been there since it opened in 2004. The project was named after Frank Norton – who was a local Exmouth man, very well known in the area for his community work, supporting many local charities.
The buildings at Norton are owned by Sovereign Network Group, but Westward provide all the staffing on site, supporting the residents and liaising with the landlord. Paul O'Neill is the service manager on-site weekly, and Louise Baker is the support worker providing the customer-led support each week.
Each person is assessed individually and has a specific number of support hours per week. Support is varied, but can include managing finances, reporting repairs, being involved in the community, following interests & hobbies, and supporting to learn new skills such as cooking.
There is an active residents’ association and we encourage the customers to have as much say about their day-to-day lives as we would expect about ours.
Many of the residents work and their jobs include kitchen porter, supermarket ‘colleague’, school dinner lady, cleaner, and care home employee. Others volunteer, including charity shop, men’s shed and glass collecting in the pub!
Day trips and social events are a big part of Norton place, with the calendar being planned with excitement. Trips have included Paignton Zoo, Dartmouth railway line, Totnes Rare Breeds Farm, Bicton Gardens, shopping trip to Exeter, Sidmouth, and Stuart Line Cruises up the coast. Opportunities are also provided for the residents to be involved with gardening and helping to grow their own vegetables. The residents also enjoy celebrating seasonal events throughout the year, such as Wimbledon, Easter, Halloween, Christmas etc. Usually there is small get together in the lounge with snacks and drinks.
Last week, on 2 July, we celebrated 20 years of Norton Place. Residents, family members, friends, Westward staff and Board were present to celebrate. It was a wonderful day, with speeches from Robert Stronge (Chair of Westward board), Di SC (support associate executive director) and Anna (resident at Norton who has lived there since it opened). This was followed by Westward presenting the residents with a lovely new bench with a plaque to mark the occasion. The local Tesco community champions came and provided scones, jam and cream. And we had a wonderful bongo playing session sat outside in the sunshine. There was lots of reminiscing throughout the day, with slide shows being played, photo albums being looked through, and stories being shared.
We support these customers on timescales far longer than most of our other projects, which has its own challenges and rewards. We want the customers to feel safe and supported but to be able to try new experiences and take risks in a managed way when they want to. This project is their home for life and is quite unique in that regard. As long as the funding is there, we could be supporting some of them for the next twenty years!