Enjoy being part of a thriving community

In addition to making life more fun, staying socially active in retirement is also really good for you. Studies show that retirees who stay socially active and engaged experience a variety of benefits.

Homeowners, Joan and Bill moved to The Chimes in 2019.

“The best bits about living here are you’ve got people on hand. Every corner you turn, there’s a chance of a good gossip. I love the coffee lounge. The free coffee machine attracts people, and you’ve immediately got a group chatting together.

“A book club was established before we got here so I joined that straight away. We have quizzes, bingo, theatre visits and restaurant visits. We went to the cinema when the operas were live streamed from Covent Garden and The Met. That sort of thing happens.

“Here, you can have your privacy. You have your own apartment. You can stay there whenever you want to and you can be on your own… but you also have the alternative, if you want it. You’ve got lots of people around, lots of activities, lots of fun. I think having that choice is such a big thing and you can have one choice one day and the other choice the next day. It’s a perfect situation. I can highly recommend it!

“We’ve made lots of friends here. It’s absolutely fantastic! We’ve got our friends back in Didsbury too and already we’ve had one or two here, onto our patio. They love it.”

“Do as much or as little gardening as you like.”

Set in idyllic locations, with pretty, waterside settings and stunning countryside views, our communities offer beautifully landscaped gardens and most of our apartments come with private patios or walk-out balconies.

Margaret, who lives at The Cottons and is a member of the gardening club, said: “I have always enjoyed gardening, but my previous garden became too much for me. Now I have a small plot on the raised beds which I can manage easily. This gives me an interest, some exercise and gets me outside meeting other like-minded people, and of course we enjoy the end product such as peas, beans, carrots, potatoes and beetroot.”

Joan adds: “I have an apartment with a lovely garden in front of it which the gardener comes and manages but I can put my little cyclamen blubs in. We go around dead-heading, but we haven’t got that major responsibility anymore. You know, you can back off if you don’t feel like it today, you haven’t got to do it and that’s lovely. When our friends are still digging away and the weeds are still growing, we’ve got our Josh who comes and takes up all the weeds or blows the leaves away. That’s brilliant!”

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