Meet Solihull Village resident, Anne!

Loneliness is the biggest killer, that’s what I say to people. You have to think of the future. To me a place like this is the future.

I found myself at Solihull Village after a tough time. I was in a private complex of small apartments when I had an accident helping my husband who had been ill. We waited on the floor for nine hours before help arrived. We had two ambulances arrive for us, mine went to one hospital, his to another, it was the last time we saw one another.

After my husband passed away, I couldn’t bare to stay at my old apartment complex alone. It was so quiet, and I never saw a soul. My daughters were the ones who found and suggested Solihull Village, I couldn’t have picked anything better. I love it here and I just love everyone. I have a 2nd floor apartment and I adore it!

I volunteer at the village in different ways, organising fish and chips on a Friday night for 30-40 residents, we eat in the village hall and it’s great to come together. One resident brings cakes, one brings sweets and we can sit in the hall for as long as we want.

I also volunteer and take prospective residents around to show them the village, I like doing that. I’ve been here two years in June, and it was the best decision I could have ever made, being here now, I wouldn’t be anywhere else. There are some great people in here, close friends, I’d do anything for all of them. I am in the resident’s committee and my job is to come and welcome the new people and be a point of contact for them. They can approach me and anything I can help with they can talk to me, and I share with staff if necessary.

I have two daughters and two grandsons. Being here hasn’t just helped me it has given them a new life, they used to worry about me and struggled to cope with it as I used to call often, but this place has given them trust, they say; “Mum, you don’t even ring me now”, and I don’t have to ring them anymore!

I am currently working through my own bucket list of things I want to do while I can. This includes Cheltenham races, visiting Coronation Street, heading to Nuthurst Grange to watch Ascot, and to 42ND Street in London for afternoon tea. Before he passed away, my husband and I had a place in Majorca and we went to the same place every year, now I’m doing so many different things! This place saved my life.

I’ve taken my family on cruises for the last six years, and now I am as excited to come back home as I am to go on holiday. It sounds crazy but it’s true. Loneliness is the biggest killer, that’s what I say to people. You have to think of the future. To me a place like this is the future.