The Journey So Far

The Abundant Life Project is still in its initial planning stages and Dartington is currently undertaking wide consultation to ensure that it incorporates the very best ideas from a range of successful retirement community models.

We have been taking advice from a wide range of people and agencies, including Extra Care Charitable Trust, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and St Monica’s. All have offered invaluable help in the concept development.

The Friends of Dartington are supporting the project by putting forward ideas regarding facilities and activities that could be included in the project and looking into any gaps in local provision for older people that might be able to be provided in or associated with the new community.

This is a large scale project that needs £20-30 million investment and considerable support from the community and local authorities. The timescale is significant but we want to keep the journey as public as possible, sharing our experiences as the project moves through development to business planning, design to build.

We will regularly update the public and stakeholders on the progress of ‘The Abundant Life’ project via Dartington’s comprehensive web site and local media — providing a clear education resource for other organisations seeking similar developments.

Chief Executive of the Dartington Hall Trust Vaughan Lindsay: This is an ambitious project but Dartington is up for the challenge because we believe that the high level of unhappiness and loneliness in an ever growing aging population is a pressing problem — and one each and every one of us has a personal interest in solving. We also know that there is a huge opportunity here to turn a potential challenge in our society into an opportunity — where the skills and wisdom of the older generation are not lost beyond their working life — but used to bring greater experience and wisdom into community life.