Deeley completes renovation for Warwickshire charity

A £160,000 project to renovate an aging building into a home for people with learning disabilities has been completed.

The bungalow in Warwick has en-suite accommodation for three people, space for 24-hour support staff and shared kitchen, living room and garden areas.

The project was taken on by Way Ahead Support Services, a local, independent charity, which has been helping people with learning disabilities to live independently in the Warwickshire community for 40 years.

The charity financed the transformation of the bungalow using a bequest from the Fryer family, who benefitted from the charity’s services, while other finance was received from Rowland Trust, WPH Charitable Trust and Heart of England Community Foundation. The property has been named Fryer House.

Derek Harvey, of Way Ahead, said: “I’m delighted with the finished building as are Social Services and, most importantly, the individuals who are living there.

“Two individuals have moved in already and they have settled in very well - already they have turned it into their home. They are helping to design the garden at the moment too.

“Fryer House is fully compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act and there was a tremendous amount of thought that went into the design of the building – so that it meets the particular needs of the people living in it.

“But this is our normal standard and we check in regularly to make sure everything is ok.

“The project has worked out how we hoped and the key thing for me is that from the outside you wouldn’t know that this building is different from any other on the street.

“It’s fantastic for the individuals who live as independently as possible in a safe environment.”

The accommodation is situated next door to an existing Way Ahead property, which was converted into individual self contained flats in 2003.

Simon O’Brien, of Deeley Construction who worked on the project, said: “We have a long standing relationship with Way Ahead and it is a proud day for ourselves and MRT architects to see the bungalow complete and for it to already be a home, rather than a house.

“There were a lot of considerations we had to make for a complex project like this in order to ensure the highest standards were met and all regulations were achieved, but we’ve worked very closely with Derek to ensure this is just right.”

Picture caption (L to R): David Taylor (MRT architects), Derek Harvey, Shelia Cunningham (both Way Ahead), Simon O’Brien and Clive Rattenbury (both Deeley)