Extraordinary retirement villages are home to extraordinary residents

Contrary to popular belief, retirement village living is not all about knitting and dominoes!

Not only do we at Retirement Villages, pride ourselves on our thoughtfully-designed, luxury properties – we are also incredibly proud of the supportive and welcoming communities that have been formed.

In each of our villages, there are extraordinary people with very special stories to tell. It is the wonderful characters in our villages that add to the lifestyle that our residents enjoy.

Alongside the beautiful landscaped gardens, wide array of social activities and clubs, there are also individuals truly making the most of their golden years with Retirement Villages.

Diana Willcock

Diana Willcock

For some, retiring means enjoying a slower pace of life – this sentiment doesn’t extend to Diana Willcock. After retiring early, Diana indulged in her passion for wildlife photography and travelled extensively across the world including the Antarctic, Africa, South America, Tasmania and Australia to name a few countries.

Diana now boasts a photography portfolio of over 6,000 wildlife photos of animals such as lions, elephants, hippos and crocodiles, and has encountered more than a handful of dangerous situations at the hands of these animals to secure the perfect shot!

Alan Murray

Alan Murray

‘Four wheels move the body; two wheels move the soul’ is a prophecy that one of our residents’ lives by. 73-year-old Alan is spending his retirement years hitting the open road on his motorcycle, enjoying the beautiful Warwickshire countryside from his lovingly restored, Excelsior Talisman Twin 250cc classic motorbike. A labour of love, that has taken him 14 years, Alan shows his bike off at Motorcycle festivals.

Nigel Walter

It’s not just our residents that have incredible stories to tell – our staff do too! Each one of our 16 retirement villages have dedicated staff on site to ensure our residents needs are met.

Nigel Walter, village manager at Charters village has royal connections. Nigel spent three years serving in the Royal Household early in his career, waiting on royal guests and the royal family on state visits, and was even present at the wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.

“The three years in the Royal Household provided a wonderful grounding for my career in the world of hospitality and catering. It made me understand the importance of detail and consistency,”

Each of our 16 villages has its own identity, but in every retirement village the community centres around a central hub – the village clubhouse. The heartbeat of the community, the clubhouses play host to restaurants, bars, libraries, coffee lounges and onsite convenience shops. Some villages have swimming pools and hairdressers, others have croquet lawns and tennis courts. Our residents enjoy an independent lifestyle, and found a variety of clubs and social activities including book and film clubs, rambling, yoga, art and supper clubs to name a few.

To discover more about the property and lifestyle enjoyed by our residents, please contact Retirement Villages on 01372 383950 or visit us at www.retirementvillages.co.uk.

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