Meet the Lifehost: Moira Deeble

We’re not sure where we would be without our Lifehosts. They truly represent our ethos towards the later living lifestyle and we are extremely proud of all the work that they do!

Throughout lockdown our Lifehosts have been working above and beyond to ensure that our owners continue to receive the quality of living that is expected from Renaissance. It has been wonderful to hear of all the ways that our retirement communities have been pulling together throughout these trying times.

As part of a new Q&A series, we’ve been speaking to our Lifehosts to discover a bit more about them and what they love most about their roles.

In this instalment, we speak with Moira Deeble, Lifehost at our Wimborne community in Dorset.

What is it that you like the most about working at the Wimborne community?

I have been with the company for four years now. I started out as the relief concierge originally and I have been the Lifehost at Wimborne for a year now.

I really like that you can build strong relationships with the owners, as you get to see them every day. It’s also nice that the site work is very varied and I’m doing different tasks all of the time. It’s a lovely family setting to be working in and I get to know owners’ relatives really well too.

It is a very new community and it’s been great watching it grow over the year from our first owner who moved in just before lockdown to now with 15 owners in occupation.  

Is there anything in particular you like about the area of Wimborne?

I’m a Wimborne local and live just 10 minutes away from Renaissance Wimborne. I really enjoy living here, it’s a small market town but for its size, it’s surprisingly lively, there is always a buzz!

Wimborne has its own theatre and lots of fantastic community groups like the Allendale Centre. There are very few chain establishments in the town as most businesses are still independent.

Wimborne is a lovely community that is always growing, as we are so close to the town, we encourage our owners to head to the shops for anything they might need and to get some fresh air. We’re also right next to the river, which is gorgeous in the summer.

How have you been helping owners throughout Lockdown?

I would head in one day a week during lockdown to run the weekly fire checks and ensure that everyone was getting on okay. I would call up all our owners daily to have a chat and see if they needed me to grab them any supplies from the shops.

As Wimborne is such a new development, there was plenty of space and not a lot of owners, which was ideal for social distancing but we wanted to try and make sure there was enough activity still going on to stop them feeling too isolated.

We began to host small gatherings like our Fish and Chip lunches and coffee mornings in two separate sittings, making better use of the space.

The best part about Wimborne is the large amount of outdoor space meaning that owners could have their relatives over for socially distanced picnics when the rules were eased, and the weather got better.

How was it for you working throughout lockdown, were there any particular challenges overcome?

The main challenge was actually collecting our owners’ various prescriptions, as they were hard to get hold of during lockdown. We noticed that the owners really came together to support each other, and certain owners would even volunteer to pick up each other’s prescriptions.

Most notably, the Co-op next door to us was extremely supportive when it came to letting us know when things like toilet roll, flour and other essential items were available. They would let owners head into the shop early before stocks ran out and we were very grateful it for during lockdown.

Because we do not have a large number of owners it was fine for them to gather, socially distanced of course, in our communal areas to chat and have coffee. The owners would arrange and run their own coffee mornings and there were an awful lot of puzzles being done!

Our facilities have wide corridors and plenty of well-ventilated space, so our small number of owners were allowed free range.

Do you have any positive stories that you could share from working at Wimborne throughout lockdown?

Mostly just the fact that the Co-op was so supportive, it really helped to strengthen our sense of community at Wimborne. If it wasn’t for the lockdown, we might never have built such strong ties with our neighbours.

It was also great to see how much the residents looked out for each other as well as getting to know the owner’s families so well, that was a wonderful experience.

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If you’re looking for a home with a strong sense of community and gorgeous coastline on the doorstep, our homes at Wimborne could be the place to start your next chapter.

If you aren’t quite ready to commit to purchasing, we also offer our Lifestory Choices rental options where you can rent with Assured Tenancies or rent with the option of buying your home at a later date. To book your private, one-to-one viewing, please contact 01344 238 138 or email [email protected].