The new Belong Villages in Chester features a bistro which is open to the public; and there is also a cinema, gym and hair salons. On the lower ground floor they worked with Ready Generations to incorporate a nursery as well as a daycare facility for people with dementia. Access to the nursery can be either directly or through the village, so that parents are welcomed in. It occurred to Belong Villages and Ready Generations that the nursery was just like another household in the development, and it is treated in the same way in terms of pandemic planning.

For those Belong Villages already operational, the community areas were used to welcome children as the ‘household’ model had a lot of private space which was not suitable for this purpose. New developments allowed for wider space to welcome children.

Belong Villages values are aligned to those of the Eden Alternative, with children at the heart of their community. Belong Villages wanted to move away from the care home model so that children felt welcome, incorporating play areas and baby-changing facilities into the design.

Ready Generations source: https://readygenerations.co.uk/week-7-a-practical-look-at-intergenerational-living/