Charity breaks ground on complex needs facility

A charity which supports people with learning disabilities in Jersey has put the first spades in the ground at its new facility.

Builders will start work on Monday to turn a property in Trinity into a five-bedroom nursing and complex needs facility.

The site at La Rue de Bechet will help islanders who have additional needs access nursing care.

It said the project, which is due to be completed in July 2026, will cost £3.5 million.

The scheme comes after a previous development by Les Amis for a specialist long-term nursing home was stopped due to commissioning issues.

Shaun Findlay, managing director of Les Amis, said he was confident the new project would be completed as it was smaller and most of the required funding was already available.

But he said it was a complicated project which meant costs were higher than other housing developments.

"Internally, it will have to be clinically sound, just as the new hospital will have to be… it means the bill costs are higher than your normal domestic build."

He said the centre would enable the charity to continue to care for those it support when their nursing needs became more complex.

"That includes end-of-life care, something that's not possible in our group residential homes.

"Les Amis is often the only 'family' that some of our elderly residents have because we've supported them for most of their adult lives," he added.

Trinity constable Philip Le Sueur said it has been "a great joy" to work with Les Amis.

"It is an island-wide facility," he said. "The setting here and the backdrop into the valley will provide a beautiful, peaceful, calming place which is just right for the people who will be living here."

Les Amis chairman and trustee Leslie Norman MBE said the start of the project was "the perfect way to celebrate our 50th anniversary year".

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