Reconnecting with Calway House
We recently had the pleasure of catching up with former Somerset Care Chairman, John Richards, to reminisce on his long-standing fondness for our Calway House care home in Taunton.
A long-standing connection
John’s connection with Calway House began back in the 1960’s when he was just 19 years old, and had taken on the role of an apprentice electrician. As part of this employment, he spent a lot of time working on the wiring of the former building that stood on the Calway House site.
Fast forward to the early 2000’s, and John found himself overseeing the demolition of the old building and the construction of the modern care home that we now recognise as Calway House, during his time as Chairman of the Somerset Care Board.
Elected to the Chair
John’s progression to Somerset Care Chairman happened quite suddenly. He told us:
“I became Chairman the very next day after retiring from my day job. I finished work on the Thursday and was elected Chairman on Friday morning!
I was involved with lots of building projects as Chair, including the demolition and rebuilding of Calway House. It was a great pleasure to see a home built which met the needs of the 21st century.”
Revisiting old haunts
John recently found himself seeking short-term respite care for relatives, and could think of nowhere better to care for his loved ones than at Calway House.
This gave him the opportunity to visit the building that he saw constructed two decades earlier, and reconnect with old colleagues.
“It was delightful to walk into Calway to see a home built 20 years ago that looks even better and more homely than when it was built,” John enthused.
Somerset Cares
John took the opportunity to spend some time catching up with Calway House manager, Sue Harvey, and chat about team members from his time as Chairman.
“I look back upon my time with Somerset Care with great joy,” John told us, “because I feel that we achieved something really good.“
“It is a pleasure to see that Somerset Care is still very much Somerset Cares, with an ‘S’. The heart of the organisation – and the heart of Calway House – is very much still there.”
Find out more
If you are looking for care for yourself or a loved one, our knowledgeable Enquiries Team can help. Please call 0800 8174 990 or email [email protected] to find out about care options that meet your needs.
