Cambridge Resthaven Trust Board chairman, Kevin Monks.
November’s celebrations marking Cambridge Resthaven’s 50th anniversary come with a pledge to futureproof the organisation’s place as Cambridge’s only community rest home.
Upcoming events will celebrate the official opening on November 25, 1972, of the Resthaven facility in Vogel St – Cambridge’s first rest home and retirement village – and its subsequent development. It opened with 14 residents and is today home to 250 residents across two sites, the Vogel St care centre and retirement village and Resthaven on Burns.
Read: Were you there in ’72?
Resthaven differs from most retirement villages in that it is a fully community-owned not-for-profit organisation, run by a volunteer-led Cambridge Resthaven Trust Board.
Trust chairman Kevin Monks said the aim is to provide quality care to the community, regardless of their economic profile.
“Our range of accommodation options offers continuing care for life, which differs from many corporate-based facilities. All our profits are ploughed back into developing the business and providing care for people in the community,” he said. “We have an excellent Board and management team, and in marking our 50th anniversary we’re looking at where we want to be in the next 50 years. We need to make sure we can continue to meet community needs as Cambridge grows.”
Resthaven’s opening on November 25, 1972, directed by then Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Lance Adams-Schneider. With him are Jack and June Shannon, Mrs Adams-Schneider, David and Barbara Jecks, and Mr and Mrs Ted Wright. Photo: Cambridge Museum
Resthaven’s story began in 1964 when the Fencourt Country Women’s Institute, led by Sheila Pidduck, suggested building flats for Cambridge’s elderly residents.
Sheila sought help from local service clubs, a move that resulted in all six became founding members of the Trust Board, led by chairman David Jecks, in 1966. They were the Country Women’s Institute, Lions, Rotary, the RSA, Federated Farmers, and the then Cambridge Borough Council.
At the same time, Cambridge resident Alice Hanlin arranged for a bequest from her estate to go towards a local home for the elderly, a donation that led to the purchase of the land for the rest home.
Stan Payne, second right, receiving the first donations in May 1970 at the A-frame fundraising hub in the centre of Cambridge. With him are Ces Williams, Sheila Pidduck, Doris Beech and Colin Wilson. Photo: Cambridge Museum
A fundraising group, the Friends of Resthaven, was established, with Stan Payne at the helm. They put up a kit-set A-frame fundraising hub, 20-foot square, in the centre of town for the duration of 1970, which inspired other community groups and individuals to support the project.
In 1973, three service clubs – the Jaycees, Rotary and Lions – spearheaded the landscaping of Resthaven’s Hamilton Rd frontage, naming it Payne’s Park after Stan Payne.
The first cottages were completed in 1974, and a hospital wing added in 1979. In 1994 and 2007, Resthaven purchased property across the road in Vogel St and built 18 new cottages. Further development saw the building of the first supported living apartments in 1999, the addition of a dementia unit in 2010, and a village expansion in 2014, adding 46 villas and a village centre called The Views on Vogel. In 2020, Resthaven purchased the Resthaven on Burns centre, and the ‘To and Fro’ companion driving service.
Celebrations marking their half-century will be an afternoon tea for residents and staff at Resthaven on November 25, then a gala evening and charity auction at the Don Rowlands Centre on November 26. Proceeds from the latter, which is open to the public, will go towards a new community playground in Resthaven’s Payne’s Park.
Read: Were you there in ’72?
Are you in this photo showing some of the guests at the Cambridge Resthaven opening 50 years ago? Email [email protected]
