Dr Trevor

Since moving to The Sidings in April, Trevor has enjoyed becoming part of a thriving community.

“I’m more socially active here than I have been for a long time. I’d become totally isolated and an old curmudgeon! I remember my sister saying to me when I’d only been here for two or three weeks, she said: ‘you’re a totally different person’ and my daughter said the same.”

The early years

“I’m originally from Yorkshire but I’ve lived in Blackpool for most of my life. For many years I had a medical practice and after that I was the Medical Director of the War Pensions Agency which later became the Veterans Agency.”

Trevor’s parents moved to Blackpool during the war when he was four years old.

“I grew up at North Shore before I went to medical school in Manchester. I didn’t plan to come back but shortly after we qualified, I saw that they were advertising for a house surgeon at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. I thought that sounded interesting.

“I met my first wife, Jean, at the hospital. She was a staff nurse on one of the wards and we married and had two children. She died in 1984 when my youngest was just 13 and my eldest was 16. I spent some time bringing up the children on my own. My grandmother helped out. She used to come and stay with me for a few weeks at a time and help look after the children. I still remember that fondly.

“A few years later, I met my second wife. When we got together, we moved back from Carleton to Blackpool, just off North Park Drive near the hospital. We had been living there together for about 35 years when she died. From then on, I was rattling around in our five-bedroom, four reception room house on my own.”

Deciding to move

Trevor spent a lot of time on his own and his family were starting to worry about him.

“My children and my sister were worried that I was getting older and letting myself go to seed. I used to see very few people except for my neighbours. I wasn’t myself at all. I didn’t speak to people or anything.

“Last August, I’d been visiting my daughter for one of my grandchildren’s birthdays and when I came back, my sister rang me up. She said ‘I’ve seen an advert from Adlington Retirement Living and they’re building a place in Lytham. I think it would be just your thing, so I’ve made an appointment. We’re going to have a look tomorrow’.

“Once I came inside, I liked the décor and the show apartments. The second time I came, I was even more taken with it. The gardens were starting to be developed more and the scaffolding was starting to come down so I could look around more.

“I chose a two bedroomed apartment. It was just the right size for me. The sitting room would fit some of my furniture that I wanted to bring with me. I knew where I wanted to put my pictures and mirrors, and I wanted to bring my lampshades with me and a standard lamp. I knew everything would just fit. There’s plenty of storage and then when you use all of the facilities here as an extension of your own home, you don’t feel like you’ve particularly downsized.”

Part exchange

When Trevor’s house didn’t sell, having a part exchange service provided a good solution.

“My house didn’t sell for six months. I think because it was on the expensive side for Blackpool. So, I looked at a part-exchange and although I took a financial hit compared to the original asking price, from my point of view it was worth it. The peace of mind was worth every penny.

“The most difficult thing in the beginning was the thought of the hassle involved in selling the house. Putting it up for sale, people coming round and then sorting through all our stuff because I knew how much there was. I’d lived there so long, and my wife had died there so it was a bit emotional too.”

Moving made easy

Adlington Retirement Living’s specialist partner, The Senior Move Partnership, offers services to take the stress, hard work and worry out of moving. Trevor found their support made the whole moving process much easier.

“Sue helped me. She was absolutely fantastic. I couldn’t have done it without her. She sorted everything for me.

“Adlington gave me 20 hours of her time free, which was enormously helpful. I had many hours more than that. She was absolutely superb. I can’t tell you how grateful I was to her.

“She sat with me and made a plan. She measured everything and brought the measurements back and showed me on a plan what would fit where. I knew exactly what would fit and what I wanted to take. That was tremendously useful.

“Living in the same house for 37 years, you accumulate, and Mavis and I we’re the kind of people who never ever threw anything away. We had so many crystal glasses and so much crockery. It was amazing. I gave away enormous amounts of stuff to my children, grandchildren, friends and neighbours. After that, we had the Salvation Army come in and they filled two of their big vans and there was still an enormous amount left, so eventually I got a guy to do a house clearance for me.

“Sue was there on the moving day. She was excellent, she did it all. I went out for lunch with my sister and when I came back, she’d got everything arranged for me.

When it comes to moving in, the team at Adlington Retirement Living provide eight hours of support from a handyman for every new homeowner.

“The handyman came and put my pictures and mirrors up. I bought a couple of pictures from a local gallery and he put those up for me too. He’s been very helpful.”

Free from the worry of maintaining a big house and garden

Since moving to The Sidings, Trevor has enjoyed his newfound freedom from home maintenance.

“There’s so much stress, worry and anxiety that comes with maintaining such a huge place. My wife had been ill for a long time, so I hadn’t had the outside of the house painted for about four years. I knew that when I had it painted last time it was nearly £3,000, so I thought it was going to cost at least £5,0000. I needed new decking on the balcony and that was going to be another £10,000 or something. It all mounts up.

“All that worry has been taken away from me now. I’d already been prohibited from going up ladders years ago by my wife. I’m the worst DIY person on this planet so we had people who’d come and helped us for many years, like a handyman, cleaners, a gardener, things like that, but it’s still a worry. When you’re paying for odd jobs week by week, you don’t realise how much it adds up to and you do that for years.

“Some people think that the service charges for retirement communities are expensive but when you consider what you get for it, I think it’s fine.”

More time to enjoy the things you love

Over the years, Trevor has always enjoyed the arts.

“I used to do an enormous amount of amateur dramatics. I was a member of a local drama group called the Lancastrian Players, we put on a lot of plays over many years. I used to do a lot of directing and acting in it. I’m much more of a thespian type than a practical person.

“I go to see the odd opera now. I’ve always been a great opera fan ever since I was a teenage boy. Recently I’ve been to the Grand in Blackpool.

“That’s one of the things I had to sort out. I had box sets of operas in LPs and 78s. My daughter took them. I also had single LPs and 78s of classical music as well.

“I can get a lot of opera on YouTube now on the television. It’s amazing! I can go onto YouTube music and find almost all the operas or favourite singers that I like. Also, I love piano music and you can get a lot of piano music on there.

“David, one of the managers here, runs a quiz night and I’d told him that I liked opera so, a month or two ago, he came up with some Italian opera questions that he thought I might not know. He played them and I got every answer right!”

Being part of a thriving community

Trevor has embraced being part of the community at The Sidings since his move.

“I am so, so pleased I came. Very pleased. I’ve got back to my normal self. I’m not so insular. I enjoy meeting people and talking to them. There’s a good sense of community here. You tend to see the same social group most often because they’re of a like mind and they want to come together. I’ve made some good friends since I’ve moved here.

“We had a tremendous night last night. It sounds twee, but we played dominoes and a couple of us finished a bottle of wine between us. One of the homeowners here has just started some of us playing chess again. I used to play a lot when I was young but hadn’t played for about 40 years. Some people who’ve never played before are very keen and have now gone onto the internet chess sites to learn how to play. I had about three games last week in the homeowner’s lounge or the coffee lounge and that was very good. I enjoyed that.

“We have speciality gala nights every six weeks or so. I’ve been to a Greek night and a Hollywood themed ‘Oscars’ night. We’re having a Turkish night on Friday. The Oscars night was very good. I won an Oscar. I think it was for the best dressed man.

“We’ve started a Boules club, you know pétanque, on a Sunday morning. There are usually five or six of us. Enough for a couple of teams. When we had the weather for it in June, we all enjoyed sitting out in the gardens.

“I settled in right away. I amazed myself at how quickly I felt at home and I got on speaking terms with quite a few people in the first few days.

“I tend to eat in the restaurant two or three times a week. I just do it when I feel like it. On Sundays I usually have either my sister or friends come for lunch with me here. I took Marcus, my step-grandson, for lunch the other week. Some people go every day but I’m sporadic.

“I’ve had the same person cut my hair for years and years and she does it in the hair salon here for me now. We use the activities room too. One of the homeowners, Dorothy, leads an exercise class every Wednesday morning which I join sometimes. It’s a bit of fun and we have a coffee or tea afterwards and chat.

“The film nights in the cinema room are popular too. I’ve seen quite a few.”

Staying fit and healthy

Having spent his working life as a medical practitioner, Trevor can see the health benefits of retirement living.

“I think one of the big benefits of moving to a retirement community is the stimulus of other people at this time of life. If somebody has been on their own, as I know very well, you can sink into not wanting to do anything. You lose your ability to think properly, and to converse properly, and you start to go downhill.

“Looking back now, I didn’t realise at the time, that’s exactly what happened to me. The stimulus of moving into a place like this can be of great benefit.

“Physically it helps too. I make sure that if I can’t get out into Lytham, I do two laps of The Sidings in the morning and two laps in the afternoon. I think four laps is not much short of a mile so that’s the least that I do and when I think about it, I try to use the stairs as much as I can although I do use the lift mostly.

“When I was young, I played an enormous amount of cricket especially at school and then at medical school. When I worked at the hospital, for three or four years, we had a very good cricket team there including quite a few international players and we won the local league. I was a quick bowler.

“When I went into practice, I didn’t have the time, so I had to stop playing then, when I was about 26. I watch a lot of cricket now. I played golf for a long time after that.”

Peace of mind

“Having support from the on-site management team played a part in my decision to move here. I thought ‘I can’t be too proud. I’m getting old now and you never know what might happen’ so I thought it was a good idea. We have the buzzers in case anything goes wrong and I see one of the managers every day.

“I think retirement living and having that support is a good way to avoid having to go into an old folks’ home and a good way to stay independent.

“The managers are very good because if they haven’t seen somebody that day they go and make sure that they’re ok. They’re on the ball all the time.

“If I was talking to somebody considering a move to a retirement community, I’d say that it relieves you of an enormous amount of stress and adds a lot of positive social interaction. I enjoy meeting new friends and socialising and not having any worries about life at all.

“I think another benefit is knowing that you’re going to be safe. I think that’s a big thing for some people. Quite a few older people have very little self-confidence left and I think that’s bolstered quite a bit by the staff here being so caring and thoughtful.”