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Rosemary Stevenson, an 88-year-old woman from South Ayrshire, Scotland, has spent the past 25 years raising over £1.5m to support elderly people in Ballantrae. As part of her projects, Stevenson started a care agency and daytime spaces that entertain elderly people in the village. Her ultimate goal, however, is to build a care home with a dementia unit, which could cost over £500,000 due to rising construction costs.
Stevenson’s drive comes from her observation that older residents in the village were being forced to move away from family and friends to receive overnight care. “They’re going away from their families and their grandchildren, it’s not right,” she said. “It doesn’t happen anywhere else. If you live in Girvan and you need a care home, you’re still in the same area. But this place is different.”
The council refused to pay for overnight care, so the group decided to create Ballantrae Rural Initiative Care in the Community (BRICC), a charity that would finance the building of the care home. After obtaining planning permission for a 16-bed home next to the BRICC House, construction was halted by the pandemic. Now Stevenson and her team are struggling to raise funds.
BRICC had more than 40 volunteers when it launched, but many of the older members have fallen ill or died. Now, only around eight people remain to keep the charity going. “We just need the funds to get the ball rolling for the care home,” said Audrey Houston, 67, who runs the BRICC shop. “We’re all hoping to go into this care home facility when we’re older. We don’t want to have to leave the village.”
South Ayrshire, where Ballantrae is located, has one of the oldest populations in Scotland, and its inhabitants are ageing quickly. The council has a meeting with BRICC this month to discuss the charity’s plans for the village. A council spokesperson said, “We will continue to work with all of our providers and partners, including BRICC to adapt our care delivery models and meet people’s needs as best we can.”
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