Ironman event - service disruption

The Ironman event takes place this Sunday 14 September in Dorchester and Weymouth. As some roads and car parks will close there will be delays, please check your route before travelling. Weymouth Recycling Centre will not be open and access to Dorchester Recycling Centre will be disrupted.

St Martin's House

Independent living with Extra Care in Gillingham, Dorset

Extra Care Housing is different to residential care and sheltered housing.

It helps you to live independently in your own home, with tenancy rights, and with care and support available day and night.

Life at St Martin's House

St Martin’s House is a new Extra Care Housing development in the heart of Gillingham, North Dorset. It offers 55 one- and two-bedroom apartments at affordable rent for people who need some additional support to live independently in their own home.

The building has been designed to be easy to live in and get around in. The apartments are spacious, with large doorways for ease of access. There are 2 mobility scooter stores with level access to the pavement for a short trip into the town.

The communal areas, including a lounge and dining room, are light, airy and comfortable spaces in which to relax, eat, and meet with friends and family.

The corridors include handrails and the shared outdoor spaces have paths that allow you to access planted gardens. Our nature conservation area provides a space for both residents and the community to enjoy.

Two people on a sofa holding coffee cups and laughing together

Two people, one sat on a sofa and the other leaning over the back cuddling them from behind

Your apartment

There is a wall-mounted tablet device in each apartment and an emergency call system. There are regular ‘I’m OK’ check-ins for you to respond to in private, making sure all is well. Help is on hand managing bills and accessing the community.

Life in St Martin’s House means access to flexible support and 21st century care. You will have an apartment to yourself, with a key to your own front door. Each apartment has its own kitchen, fitted bathroom, bedroom and living room. Visitors are very welcome.

There are 55 apartments over three floors, made up of 45 one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom apartments.

Each apartment includes:

a kitchen with fitted units and space for a washing machine
a bathroom with walk-in shower and shower seat
a wall-mounted tablet device for checking daily welfare, calling for assistance and daily messages
storage space
heating controls
balconies (some apartments)

Example floor plans

There are 9 apartment types with a range of layouts.

All apartments will be allocated through an allocation panel based on your care and support needs.

Here are 2 example apartment layouts:

Example 1: Total area 49.5m²

A floor plan example from st martins house showing a living/dining room, a kitchen, a cupboard, a bedroom and a bathroom

Example 2: Total area 60.4m²

A floor plan example from st martins house showing a living/dining room, a kitchen, a cupboard, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom

St martins house interior, a window looking out over some grass and cupboard doors with a grey carpet

Two people sat together on a sofa looking at a tablet

A bathroom with a toilet, a shower, a seat and some handrails

Communal areas

Our communal lounge is for you to use and meet with friends and family. There is a dining room area where you can meet friends and family for a picnic and we plan to provide hot meals soon. There are multi-use rooms that you can use for activities and where groups can meet.

Outdoor space

The garden area is communal with lots of flower beds and a path leading down to the wild garden area. If you want to grow your own flowers or vegetables please speak to the scheme manager who will discuss what possibilities there are for this.

A wild area has been set aside to allow nature to be nature. Magna will do some maintenance to keep it healthy but it is for the community of St Martin’s House to visit and enjoy.

Dining at St Martin’s House

Each apartment has its own kitchen where you can prepare your own food. We also plan to provide a hot meals service soon and will confirm details of this once St Martin’s House is occupied and established.

Accessibility and mobility

There are 2 mobility scooter storage rooms with 16 spaces, charging points and level access to the road and into Gillingham. Spaces will be available for a small rental charge.

Assistive technology

The emergency response call system supplied with your apartment is called Appello Smart Living. This will allow you to call for assistance, monitor your smoke alarm and have a video call with a staff member on site or one of your neighbours. There will be lots of help on site if you need it.

Two people holding hands and dancing together

Your care

Care at St Martin’s House is provided by Care Dorset, a business we created to provide adult social care. There will always be a minimum of 2 Care Dorset colleagues on site in St Martin’s House at any one time.

Staff includes a manager, 2 team leaders, a team of support workers and 2 people providing background support.

The focus of Extra Care Housing is to grant you maximum independence. The amount, and extent, of one-to-one service you will get at St Martin’s House will be something you can agree as part of your care package.

In addition to any set hours of care, we can accommodate unscheduled support. For example, an unexpected medical issue which requires someone to be by your side at short notice.

We can help you with:

managing your medicines
continence needs and personal care
getting specialist equipment
managing appointments
making sure you’re eating well
emotional support

Meet the managers

Meet the St Martin's House managers.

Eligibility

The apartments at St Martin’s House are being offered to people in Dorset who need some extra care and support to live independently in their own home. Most of the apartments will be offered to people aged over 55, while a small number will be available to people aged under 55 who need access to care and support.

We run a nominations process to decide who is offered an apartment at St Martin’s House.

To be eligible for an apartment, you need:
1. An active housing register application.
2. To be assessed by the council as having eligible needs under the Care Act. You can contact our adult social care team to check if you are eligible
3. A local connection: you either live in the Dorset Council area already or you have relatives or support in the area.

How to apply

To enquire about renting an apartment at St Martin’s House, contact our adult social care team.

We will be able to discuss the availability and suitability of St Martin’s House for your needs.

Applications will be assessed by a nominations panel based on your care and support needs.