Les Amis has announced that construction work on the Maison des Amis care facility can now begin after the charity received the green light from planners.
The charity bought the former Hampshire Hotel in Val Plaisant last year and will be converting it into the only residential home of its kind in the Channel Islands, providing a higher level of care to people with Down’s Syndrome and other learning disabilities who have nursing or special care needs, including those with early on-set dementia.
The project is the largest fund-raising challenge the charity has ever taken on and to date has raised £7.5million, but still need a further £5million.
This year, the charity received a grant of £40,000 from the Jersey Community Foundation. The Foundation manages several funds and, in this case, made a grant from the Greville Bathe Fund.
Stewart Mourant MBE, Chair of the Board of Trustees, said: “We have been at the planning stage for this development for more than a year and now that we have received permission to go ahead, work can start on providing a facility that the island desperately needs. This is a new chapter in the Les Amis story, and we hope that more people will understand the importance of the work that we do.
“People with learning disabilities are entitled to the very best health care and specialist elderly care but to support our ambitions to provide it, we need to raise significant external financial support. The grant from the Jersey Community Foundation will go directly to making this project a success and our attention will now focus on further opportunities to secure grant or sponsorship support.”
Picture credit: Morris Architects
