Safety and Stability
During interviews and focus groups, issues of feeling safe and secure often came up in the conversation. Sometimes this was residents talking about feeling safe in their almshouse or their neighbourhood, other times it was residents feeling worried or scared about injuring themselves or falling. This theme links to other themes that highlight issues of safety from a community perspective and from a physical building perspective. Negotiating a building as you age can be difficult, especially when your needs change:
“I arrived here, practically, on crutches … The walls aren’t too far apart from each other, so I was able to rest on furniture and other objects okay. They sorted me out with disability instruments and I’ve got the pull cord”
(Resident 3)
Most of the residents made favourable comparisons between their lives since moving to the almshouse with the uncertainty or insecurity they experienced in previous accommodation. Some spoke of their ‘peace of mind’ in the almshouse and of feeling settled. For example, one resident spoke about the stability of knowing that any home repairs would be taken care of:
“You know, anything goes wrong, your taps are not working properly, your toilet doesn’t work properly, anything, you’ve got a blockage somewhere, ring them up and they’re out. It’s absolutely great. That’s peace of mind for you. I think that’s great. I don’t have to worry about that”
(Resident 32)
Having home maintenance and in some cases certain utilities paid for by the charity also improved a sense of financial stability. Making the residence comfortable and adding personal touches further contributes to feeling settled in. One resident said of their home “I don’t even call this a home, I call it my haven” (Resident 29).
For many residents, the almshouse is where they expect to live out their lives. The impact of this housing security was summed up well by this resident:
“Here you know you are here, safely for the rest of your life. They are never going to ask for their property back, because it’s a charity. So that’s the main thing, that sense of security for the first time in my life that I haven’t got to worry about that”
(Resident 24)
Knowing they have a place to live out their lives gives residents the stability to settle into new routines or friendships if they wish to. Where a larger site also offered additional care facilities, this was also discussed by residents as part of their feeling that they were likely to be supported to stay where they were well into the future. In addition to housing security and fewer financial worries, most residents reported feeling physically safe. One resident noted this as one of the best aspects of living in the almshouse:
“Come in, and not worrying about anybody, you know? I think that’s the main thing, the security. You don’t feel so vulnerable when you’re on your own. You’ve always got someone around and you’ve got the alarms if we are in trouble. I think that’s the main- the security of the place.”
(Resident 1)
In some cases, residents compared a feeling of safety with concerns about where they had lived before. One resident, who was living in a council flat at the time of interview but getting ready to move into an almshouse, said “I don’t feel safe here, no. And I will feel safe there, I know” (Resident 45). Feeling safe and secure is important for mental health as well as physical health:
“It means everything, really, because it’s my sanctuary, you know. It’s somewhere to come back to when I do come back that I feel safe”
(Resident 35)
This sense of sanctuary can be achieved in different ways, and the charities we talked to had different approaches depending on the age of the properties. Most of the almshouse charities we talked to have different types of sites and different types of homes, from properties on the street to blocks of flats. These different situations present different problems and solutions to safety and security. Almshouses are for people who want to and can live independently, which means there has to be freedom in access, to allow for ease of residents, visitors and guests coming and going. Security measures such as restricted access areas (for residents only) can be installed in existing almshouses as well as designed into new almshouses. In some cases, the security/door entry system is at the garden threshold, for collections (groups) of almshouses, and for those almshouses ‘on the street’ the security is as with any other property and sits at the front door.
Having security measures and staff on site and dealing with anti-social behaviour when it crops up contributes to this sense of safety. For those who had lived alone prior to moving to the almshouse, living with other people was cited as another source of increased stability and security. As one resident explained:
“You feel very safe, for one thing. Safety is great. When you’re older, it’s lovely. If you end up on your own, which a lot of people here, women, particularly, have, because their husbands, men die first, you know, that’s lovely, the safety”
(Resident 38)
One of the important issues when it came to the physical environment was the importance of quick responses by staff (on site or on the end of the phone) and knowing that being able to contact someone in an emergency was a straightforward process and manageable. This usually involved a single point of contact accessed via a pull cord but could also include onsite staff:
“we used to have somebody of a night and a security man you could call during the night if there was any problem. We don’t have that anymore”
(Resident 7)
“Lovely, yes, and then another emergency pull cord if you need it … … because there is one in every room”
(Resident 49)
For people in any circumstances, our primary concerns relate to physical safety, having a place to live and some certainty of being able to afford the necessities of life. Only when these worries are dealt with can people pay attention to other matters. By providing decent, safe, secure, and affordable accommodation, almshouse charities provide the most essential factors to enable resilience: a home, safety and reduced financial pressures.
