Upper Beeding care home appeals for help to build visiting pod for relatives

A small family-run care home in Upper Beeding is looking for sponsors to fund and build a temporary external pod where visitors can come to visit their loved ones.
Residents at Valerie Manor care homeResidents at Valerie Manor care home
Residents at Valerie Manor care home

Zoe Fry, the owner of Valerie Manor Nursing and Residential Care Home in Henfield Road, said it would be the best way to continue to keep residents safe as winter approaches.

The pod will allow relatives to visit without needing to enter the care home, therefore reducing the risk of spreading the virus.

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Residents would be able to access the pod from a covered corridor from the main entrance to the pod, which would have a separate door for visitors to enter.

A screen would protect residents while allowing them to see their families without the need for masks – which Mrs Fry said had been quite distressing for some.

She added that residents with sensory needs would ‘greatly benefit’ from being close to see someone and recognise them and hear someone without a two metre distance and face covering.

Mrs Fry said: “We are now facing further challenges as we move into Autumn and Winter and would like to seek help and sponsorship from the local community.

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“As a small family run home we don’t have access to the grants and facilities that larger organisations have and would like to ask if there are any local companies who would be able to design, build and sponsor a temporary unit.”

The care home is proud to have remained coronavirus-free throughout the pandemic, thanks to adopting a Covid Action Plan at the beginning of March, when many other care homes were still continuing as normal.

Its innovative work has been shared by the Care Quality Commission, Care England and West Sussex County Council, Mrs Fry said.

She said it was down to the ‘award-winning’ team who had managed to keep everyone safe amid difficult circumstances.

Anyone able to help create the visiting pod should contact the care home directly.