The Easter holidays have begun in earnest – with Easter Day and a four-day weekend just around the corner. Spring is also in the air with daffodils making their colourful appearance and the trees and hedgerows turning a vibrant shade of green as the days get longer and warmer. The Easter holidays provide a wonderful opportunity for retirees to spend time with their family and grandchildren. Recent research conducted by Gransnet (the busiest social networking site for the over 50’s) found that 51% of grandparents regularly look after their grandchildren, with a further 10% helping during the school holidays. Editor of Gransnet, Lara Crisp says, “Most grandparents who help out relish the opportunity to spend more time with their grandchildren and find it helps them build a strong relationship with them.” The team at award-winning LifeCare Residences’ retirement communities pride themselves on ensuring that families are always warmly welcomed – whether it’s simply for a family gathering on Easter Sunday or for longer periods during the Easter holidays.

For many, moving to a retirement community involves downsizing, but at LifeCare Residences’ communities there is always room to accommodate the family in the well-appointed guest apartments which are ideal for visiting family, enabling them to get involved in the vast array of activities on-site as well as enjoying the many attractions on the doorstep. Battersea Place sits a stone’s throw away from the vast Battersea Park, boasting its own zoo, as well as being a short drive from the famous Natural History and Science Museums. Caroline Hamilton retired to a two-bedroom apartment in Battersea Place, the first luxury retirement community in London, after selling her five-bedroom family home. Caroline has never looked back and enjoys a spacious apartment, in addition to an array of communal activities. She can host and entertain family and friends frequently. “My family are greeted warmly at Battersea Place. I have a lovely home and I really appreciate the support of all the lovely staff. The fact that my family can visit often is the icing on the cake – I can enjoy my easier, more relaxed lifestyle and still have my children and grandchildren over to stay as I would do in my old house.” Caroline’s apartment at Battersea Place makes the ideal destination for younger visitors, as she concludes, “My grandchildren love coming to visit because we can all go out exploring together. Last time some of them came, we tried to squeeze in as many museums as possible.”

Indeed, all LifeCare Residences communities offer a wealth of activities for young and old alike to enjoy – whether on-site or on the doorstep – providing a wonderful environment for grandparents and their visiting families. This Easter, the team at Grove Place, a beautiful retirement community set in the rural Hampshire countryside, has organised an easter egg hunt for visiting families, with lots of chocolate eggs to enjoy as prizes! They have also arranged a delicious Easter lunch, on Sunday, in their chef-led restaurant. At Battersea Place, the team has arranged specially prepared Easter desserts and Easter brunch treats. A resident surprise has also been arranged, but that remains under wraps for now! Additionally, both Battersea Place and Grove Place boast well-equipped indoor gyms, heated indoor swimming pools and billiards rooms which are only available for the exclusive use of residents and their families. Battersea Place also has a cinema room which has proven popular for a spot of inter-generational competition and a cinema room which makes for perfect entertainment if the weather is wet.

As well as all the on-site Easter activities, all LifeCare Residences’ communities have plenty of family fun to enjoy right on the doorstep. At Grove Place in Hampshire, grandparents can let their grandchildren explore not only the 27 acres of spectacular grounds and woodland, but also the nearby New Forest, inhabited by gorgeous native ponies which always provide great entertainment to observe. The National Motor Museum in Beaulieu is a popular family destination and is only a short drive away from Grove Place. Many Easter activities have been laid on with motoring parades of historic vehicles taking place every day throughout the Easter holidays. Also in Beaulieu, visitors can try on Easter bonnets at Palace House and get to meet and interreact with costumed guides and learn about life in the 19th century. Less than six miles away from Grove Place, the eternally popular Peppa Pig has a dedicated theme park as part of Paulton’s Family Theme Park with nine fun rides to enjoy, as well as a cast of characters making seasonal appearances. Marwell Zoo is another popular destination for many residents and their families with hundreds of animals to view, a 140-acre park and five adventure playgrounds. Their most recent exhibition, ‘Brickosaurus’, is a world-first collection of 55 prehistoric creatures made using more than two million toy bricks has taken over the zoo and is bound to be a hit with old and young alike. And literally on the doorstep of Grove Place are the Sir Harold TIllier Gardens in Romsey where the Easter bunny will be leaving a quizzical trail around the gardens during one of the most beautiful times of the year to visit. There are many other activity centres on the doorstep, including New Forest Waterpark and Go Ape Moors Valley. There are the Exbury Gardens and Steam Railway to enjoy, as well as many other animal parks and sanctuaries to visit such as Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary and New Forest Wildlife Park. Families are spoilt for choice this Easter! There is nothing youngsters enjoy more than simply running about outside in the fresh air, followed by a picnic perhaps. At Battersea Place, residents can take their grandchildren by the hand and simply step over the road to explore the 200 acres of wide-open space at Battersea Park. With plentiful free museums and family-friendly restaurants, there are lots of things to do in London with children. Residents at Battersea Place are fortunate to have everything that London has to offer, right on their doorstep with a diverse mix of history and culture to treat the grandchildren to. There are museums and galleries a plenty such as the Tate, the Victoria and Albert Museum, as well as the London Eye and world-famous aquarium to visit to name but a few. Grandparents keen to treat their little visitors are spoilt for choice as London is the shopping capital of the world with its famous shopping destinations such as Bond Street and Oxford Street, as well as the two Westfield Shopping Centres. Many of London’s Royal Palaces, museums and iconic landmarks put on special Easter activities for children at this time. Quite literally on the doorstep of Battersea Place is the family-run Battersea Children’s Zoo who will be running Easter Egg hunts over the Easter weekend and younger visitors will be able to help the keepers to prepare egg-shaped feeds for the animals. Battersea Power Station also has an exciting line up of free, family-friendly activities with an Easter Bunny Egg Hunt, a petting zoo and maze, outdoor games, pop-up food and drink huts. At Somerleigh Court in Dorchester, Dorset, residents are right on the doorstep of Borough Gardens, a beautiful 19th century park that also has tennis courts which are open all year round and has the bonus of being situated in Dorset with its stunning beaches which get more sun than most places (with approximately 364 more hours than the national average). Spring is a wonderful time of year in Dorchester for those with visiting family and grandchildren. During the Easter holidays the Keep Military Museum is hosting an Art-efact trail as well as running a fun workshop to create your own replica WW1 chocolate tin. The four-day annual Brewery Square Easter Egg Hunt will run from Good Friday to Easter Monday. Brewery Square will also play host to themed storytelling, performances, and garden games. Additionally, visiting families are spoilt for choice with the many historical sites to visit, some of which date back to pre-Roman Britain, as well as the nearby Maumbury Rings monument which is regularly used for open-air concerts, festivals, and historical re-enactments. Children will love being taken to the Teddy Bear Museum, the Dorset Country Museum or even the Dinosaur Museum. Dorchester and Dorset have a fascinating Jurassic past that really does appeal to all generations.

If you would like to learn more about LIfeCare Residences and our offering please call T. 0800 009 6950.

For those who are unable to visit in person, we are also able to offer virtual tours of our communities at your convenience.

www.lifecareresidences.co.uk