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Downtown Asset Management (DAM) is underlining its commitment to enriching the new residential communities that it manages with the launch of a bespoke app for residents.

Following Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, which found that ‘residents did not have a strong enough voice in the management of their buildings’, DAM has introduced the new app at Downtown, the £85m Manhattan-inspired apartment development on the Manchester and Salford border.

DAM has partnered with ARK to deliver the app which is now available for residents of all 374 apartments to download, sign up and immediately become part of the Downtown community.

Focussed on nurturing a happy, healthy and safe community where residents thrive, feel heard and enjoy life, the Downtown app offers a wealth of useful general information such as dates for scheduled building maintenance or alarm testing and interesting news, openings and events in the wider local area on a community newsfeed, along with parcel delivery notifications, in-app payments and communal room bookings. Critical safety information can also quickly and effectively be relayed to all residents via the app at the click of a button.

Designed to inform, connect and bring people together, the app forms part of DAM’s wider resident engagement strategy, The Voice, setting new standards in the communication between residents and the building management team.  It is also designed to meet new regulations outlined in The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced following the Hackett review into the Grenfell Tower tragedy that demands more stringent regulations to ensure residents living in high-rise buildings are safe, secure and listened to.

Head of operations at DAM, Rick Medcraft, commented: “Our new app provides an innovative ‘hub’ for residents at Downtown providing effective information channels to forge and foster connections and ensure residents feel happy, safe and listened to.  In addition to helping us get to know our residents in a more visible way and enable us to be more reactive to their needs, the app also creates a sense of community pride in the building that they call home and also the wider immediate surroundings.  We’re pleased to have introduced this and look forward to seeing it make a positive impact within our residential communities.”

Head of partnerships for ARK, Angus Reid, said: “The methodology of our platform is based upon research conducted by the Happiness Research institute which indicates that being happy at home is the second biggest factor in your overall happiness (just behind mental health). Happy communities are connected communities and that is why Ark exists! We are excited to partner with DAM as we provide their bespoke resident engagement app and our concierge software to help them build a more connected residential community at Downtown. We can’t wait to see how things progress!”

Work continues at pace on a state-of-the-art new £15million care home in Lymm, in Cheshire, which is now less than one month away from completion.

Build is progressing well at New Care’s state-of-the-art 66-bed care facility on the corner of Whitbarrow Road and Statham Avenue in the centre of Lymm with practical completion taking place before Christmas.

The external brickwork and roof tiling are complete meaning the building is now watertight, and the team of contractors and tradesmen on site are working hard on the interior to ensure the development remains on schedule as it edges closer to completion.

The superb new care facility will be known as Statham Manor and is the latest care home development for New Care, one of the UK’s leading care home operators and part of the award-winning McGoff Group. 

When complete, it will cater for the aspiring needs of residents in Lymm and the surrounding area offering exceptional person-centred residential, nursing, dementia and respite care in a safe, comfortable and stylish environment. 

Each of the well-appointed and restful bedrooms will feature a private en-suite wet room, while the home itself will offer several stylish communal lounges, elegant dining rooms, spa assisted bathrooms, a hair salon and nail bar, plus beautifully landscaped gardens.  

The impressive care facility will also provide high end hotel-style services that ensure continued quality of life and enjoyment for residents, including fine dining and a busy and varied programme of activities and events.

Ensuring a welcoming home-from-home environment for all residents, Statham Manor benefits from a high specification finish and has been designed by professional interior designer who has created a stunning yet practical space that takes inspiration from its former life as a hotel that hosted Pele during the World Cup.

Commenting on the forthcoming opening of Statham Manor, commissioning director at New Care, Dawn Collett, said: “Work on site is progressing well and, with less than one month to go until practical completion, Statham Manor is really taking shape.  The care facility has been expertly designed to offer outstanding care in a stylish environment, and we are already starting to recruit the 100-strong team and our first residents.”

Leading developer, the McGoff Group, has donated a wooden mud kitchen to Sanctuary Café in the centre of Lymm.

Close to completion at its new multi-generational development on the corner of Whitbarrow Road and Statham Avenue, the McGoff Group has delighted locals with the donation as it gives pre-schoolers somewhere to play while their parents or carers pop into the popular canalside café for a hot drink or bite to eat.

Made from sturdy weatherproof play grade treated timber and featuring lots of real-life kitchen features including hob, bowls, oven and shelves, the mud kitchen is perfect for little ones in their early years allowing them to use their imaginations to play a variety of kitchen, cooking – and even pretend café games.

Sanctuary Café manager Kath Mellor and project manager Sue Eden commented: “We are so grateful to the McGoff Group for surprising us with this wonderful mud kitchen.  With our café clientele, this is the perfect gift for us and one which is already being enjoyed by our younger customers.  Members of the McGoff Construction team have been regulars in the café since work started on site – it’s been great to provide them with their breakfasts and hear how the development has been coming along.”

Sarah Sanderson from the McGoff Group commented: “We’re so excited to be in the final stages of development in Lymm and looking forward to introducing locals to our beautiful apartments, nursery and care home when they complete in the next month or so.  We hope our mud kitchen donation provides a small lasting legacy of our association with the café and is enjoyed by local children for many years to come.”

One of the first of its kind in the North West, the McGoff Group development on Whitbarrow Road will bring young and those in later life together to form a vibrant new micro-community with proven health, social and wellbeing benefits for all.  When complete, it will feature an award winning care home, natural child-led day nursery and 45 individually designed residential apartments.  For further information on the development, please visit www.mcgoffgroup.com.

Image shows Sarah Sanderson from the McGoff Group (back left, blue jumper), Sue Eden from Sanctuary Café (centre front, white shirt) and Ann Marie Ellison from Back to the Garden Childcare (back right, grey jumper) with local children and parents.

Work is continuing at pace at Back to the Garden Childcare’s new nursery on Statham Avenue in Lymm, with practical completion confirmed for later this month.

Build at the £2m project is well underway with the building now watertight, which means the team of contractors and tradesmen on site are busy working on the interior of the nursery, ensuring the project edges closer to completion over the course of the coming weeks.

When complete, the nursery will provide 90 places for children aged three months up to five years.  There will also be local job creation, with 30 employees required, including a nursery manager, nursery practitioners, chef and a number of apprentices to name a few.

Expertly designed and purpose-built with an innovative outdoor space, focusing on all-season learning and exploration inside and out, Back to the Garden Childcare’s curriculum, incorporating forest school, ensures natural, child-led learning through play is at the heart of the nursery.

With the project taking shape, founder of Back to the Garden Childcare, Jeannie Pickering, says: “Work on site is progressing well and with just weeks to go until practical completion, the nursery is really starting to come together and looks superb.  Working in partnership with McGoff Construction, the nursery has been designed meticulously with every last detail carefully considered, allowing the team to deliver outstanding care to the children in a safe, stimulating and stylish environment.”

Back to the Garden Childcare in Lymm will officially open in December, with the first few children already signed up.  It is the second nursery for the company, which is part of the award-winning McGoff Group.

Jeannie concludes: “We are very much looking forward to welcoming the children to the new nursery in Lymm.  The setting is stunning and the design fantastic.  It is a very exciting time for the company as we open our second nursery, building on the success of our flagship nursery in Altrincham.”

Back to the Garden Childcare has appointed Becky Bevan as deputy manager.

Reporting into nursery manager Ann Marie Ellison, Becky will help with the day-to-day running of the natural child-led day nursery on Sinderland Road to ensure it delivers the highest quality of care and education for its pre-school children.

Along with the rest of the team, Becky’s main objective will be to ensure all children feel happy and safe and have fun at the nursery, learning through play.  She will observe activity across the setting, providing input, advice and training for individual staff members and ideas and activities to inspire the children and spark their engagement and imaginations.

Prior to joining Back to the Garden, she worked at another nursery, first as Pre-School Room Leader and then as an Early Years Teacher.  Before the nursery, she was a Reception teacher in a primary school but quickly decided that her passions lay with the younger children and the activities that take place pre-school in in innovative nursery settings.

Becky has been aware of Back to the Garden for a while and is delighted to have finally joined the team.  She says: “Back to the Garden has a great reputation and I have watched progress at the nursery from the day it opened.  I was drawn to how much emphasis is on outdoor learning which is important to me too, and I love the fabulous garden area and tepee.  I find spending time with younger children on a daily basis hugely rewarding and hope to continue maintaining and raising our standards ensuring we are the first choice for parents in the local area.”

Nursery manager, Ann Marie Ellison, said: “It’s fantastic to see how wonderful Becky is with the children, she is the perfect addition to our team.  I am looking forward to working closely with her.”

Age 27, Becky lives with her partner in Warrington.  Prior to moving to Warrington, she lived in Sale and Timperley with her family.  When not working, she is an active swimmer and recently completed the Swim22 challenge for Diabetes UK.  She is also enjoys watching football and Disney films and is planning a long-awaited visit to Disney World with her siblings.

The Mayor of Cheshire East Council, Cllr David Marren, has officially opened Wilmslow Manor Care Centre, located on Handforth Road.

The new care facility is the latest care home to open by Altrincham-based operator New Care.  Expertly designed to suit the specific plot, the team has worked meticulously with the architect and clinical lead, as well as closely with the local authority, to deliver a state-of-the-art care facility that will provide outstanding residential, dementia, 24 hour nursing and respite care services.

Cllr David Marren and his wife Belinda were welcomed by Wilmslow Manor’s manager, Paula Clark, and deputy manager, Sophie Kay, for an exclusive VIP tour of the care facility, meeting several members of the New Care team also.

Featuring 63 fully furnished bedrooms, each with a private en suite wet room, as well as several stylish communal lounges and dining rooms, Wilmslow Manor provides stunning living environments for its residents.  In addition, there is a spa assisted bathroom, nail bar and hair salon within the care home, ensuring residents always look and feel their best.  Externally, the facility boasts beautifully landscaped gardens and charming outdoor terraces to the first floor.

With residents able to enjoy a range of nutritious meals throughout the day freshly prepared by the chef, the Mayor and Mayoress sampled delicious cakes and scones whilst at Wilmslow Manor.

Cllr David Marren says: “I was delighted to be invited to officially open Wilmslow Manor.  Having seen the care home I am thrilled to say that the facility is very impressive both inside and outside, with attention to detail second to none.  Having met some of the New Care team, I am confident residents will receive outstanding care at Wilmslow Manor.”

With recruitment well underway, Wilmslow Manor will create approximately 100 jobs across multiple disciplines, from carers and nurses to hospitality, housekeeping, activities, maintenance and chefs over the course of the next 12 months.