New care home in Eastbourne

Beechwood Grove on East Dean Road provides residential, nursing, memory and respite care in 58 en-suite rooms. 

Cheryl cut the ribbon to officially declare the home ‘open’ before enjoying a tour with home manager Jeff Levine, and chatting to the first residents and invited guests which included local GPs, solicitors, neighbours of the home and members of Eastbourne’s Women’s Institute. 

“This is the most beautiful care home I’ve ever been in,” Cheryl told them.  “I’ve visited lots of them and this is lovely, it has such a homely feel.”

The purpose-built home, run by Oakland Care, offers residents a bistro, cinema room, hair and beauty salon, landscaped gardens and a terrace with panoramic views of the South Downs. It has been designed to the highest standards and has been decorated with colours to reflect its seaside location – blues, yellows and golds.  Trees are a theme throughout its three floors named Ash, Birch and Cedar. 

“It’s been lovely to see how settled the residents are already,” Cheryl adds.  “They have everything they could need and they feel at home, which is what it’s all about.  And the views from the first floor terrace are stunning.  Wow!”

One of the residents Cheryl chatted to was 92 year old Betty Ahier. Betty moved in to be closer to her family and because the responsibility of managing her home in Pevensey Bay was becoming too much. 

“I love my room, it’s a lovely environment to live in,” she says. “It was important to me to live close to my family and friends and they can come and visit me here. The staff are very caring and helpful – I’m very happy.”

The home has created more than 60 new jobs in the town and the local community has been involved in its design. Children from South Downs Special School created leaves for a tree collage wall decoration from off-cuts of the fabrics and wallpapers used throughout the home. 

Manager Jeff Levine is now looking forward to welcoming more residents and members of the community through the doors. 

“We were thrilled we could show Cheryl and our other guests what a great home Beechwood Grove is,” she says.  “We’re pleased that people can feel it has a family atmosphere, that’s very much what we wanted to create.”