archive year items
Surrey maritime charity welcomes Royal Patron
Banstead-based maritime charity The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society welcomed its Royal Patron HRH Princess Anne to meet staff, residents and tenants at the Society’s Belvedere House care home and see first-hand the Home’s latest modernisation plan. The Surrey-based care home operator and charity has provided housing, residential and nursing care to former seafarers, their widows […]
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Surrey-based maritime care home establishes dedicated Health & Wellbeing team to support staff and residents
Maritime charity The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, which runs a nursing care home for former seafarers, has established a brand-new dedicated Health and Wellbeing team to focus on individual person-centred care and support the emotional and physical wellbeing of its elderly residents. Led by George Parlapan, the Society’s Health and Wellbeing team will work with […]
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Maritime care home marks Dementia Action Week
Family and friends of residents at Surrey-based maritime charity The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society’s care home, Belvedere House, are heralding the dedication of the Society’s staff in caring for their loved ones this Dementia Action Week (17 – 23 May). With family and friends unable to visit their loved ones for a year due to […]
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Dedicated Training Helps Care Home Get Ship-Shape
Surrey-based charity The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society is reaping the rewards of its dedicated staff training programme, delivering career opportunities for team members and improving facilities for residents and tenants. The Society, which cares for 68 residents and up to 28 tenants at its 14-acre Weston Acres estate in Banstead, invests heavily in training to […]
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Royal Alfred Champions Diversity On International Women’s Day
Surrey-based maritime charity, The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society and its care home, Belvedere House, is proudly recognising the contribution of its team this International Women’s Day by marking the diversity of its predominately female workforce. Women make up almost three quarters (72%) of the Society’s 100-strong workforce, with female staff far outweighing the male staff. […]
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Naval Sweethearts Celebrate Valentine’s Day at Surrey Care Home
Award-winning care home, Belvedere House of the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, is marking the most romantic time of the year with a tale of true romance from two of its Naval sweetheart residents. The maritime care home in Banstead, Surrey, offers specialist facilities to allow married residents to continue to live together whilst receiving the […]
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New Year Brings New Appointments at Maritime Charity
Specialist maritime charity and care home, The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, has made major appointments to its senior team following the retirement of former Home Manager Anne Kasey, and Margaret Brazier MNM, Executive Assistant to the CEO, who served the Society for more than 90 years collectively. The Society has made a number of internal […]
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Maritime Care Home Thanks Supporters After Difficult Year
Maritime charity, The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, and its care home Belvedere House is thanking its supporters for all their assistance over the last 12 months against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a not-for-profit organisation, the charity relies on regular donations to help support the running of its Banstead-based care home and other […]
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Christmas Cheer for Banstead Care Home Residents
Staff and residents at Banstead-based care home The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society were feeling the festive cheer after a visit from Shetland pony Blossom and her furry friends as part of an animal therapy session. The visit, delivered by Surrey-based Kingswood Shetland Ponies, takes place every Christmas at the maritime charity’s care home Belvedere House. […]
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Long serving staff at Surrey care home retire after almost 100 years’ combined service
Maritime charity, The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, is bidding farewell to two of its longest-serving staff members who are retiring after collectively serving 95 years supporting residents and tenants at the Society’s Surrey-based care home. Home Manager, Anne Kasey, retires this month after 37 years’ service, followed by Executive Assistant to the CEO, Margaret Brazier […]
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Update from the Home Manager
The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society is committed to ensuring that we keep all residents, tenants and staff as safe as possible during the new phase of Covid-19. We are monitoring the situation carefully and are following regular advice from the Government and the authorities. Given the latest rise in Coronavirus cases nationally, as a preventative […]
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Maritime Care Home Supports Staff Wellbeing With Mental Health Training
Surrey-based maritime charity, The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, has invested in new training for senior members of the team to help them identify mental health issues within the workforce and understand how best to support colleagues who might be struggling with their mental wellbeing. Housekeeping Manager, Shirley Campbell and In-House Trainer, Sharon Hicks have recently […]
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Updated COVID statement
When I last updated you on circumstances here at Belvedere House around a month ago, although the pandemic was still very much with us all at least the nation was beginning to “unlock”. Since then you will have seen, as I have, the gradual and cautious relaxing of some measures, although the key ones remain, […]
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Keeping Belvedere House safe: our promises
Knowing the emotional burden on our residents and their families in not being able to properly meet within the Home, the team at The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society has been working hard behind the scenes to make sure that when we reopen our doors to visitors, we make Belvedere House as safe as possible for […]
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Maritime Charity Makes History With First Virtual AGM
Maritime care charity The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society has held its 154th Annual General Meeting remotely for the first time in its 155-year history, with supporters and Trustees joining the meeting via video conference services due to current COVID-19 restrictions. The Surrey-based care home operator and charity has provided housing, residential and nursing care to […]
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91-Year-Old Care Home Tenant Walks 14km To Raise Funds for Keyworkers
A 91-year old tenant of Surrey-based Belvedere House, the maritime care home of The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, has raised £5,000 for the home’s keyworkers by walking laps of the grounds for 30 days. Inspired by Captain Tom, John Eiffes wanted to recognise the 100 hardworking keyworkers that make up the Royal Alfred workforce – […]
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CEO Of Maritime Care Home Commends Staff For COVID-19 Efforts
The CEO of maritime charity The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society has this week commended the hardworking staff at its Surrey-based care home in an open letter to its workforce during the coronavirus crisis. Commander Brian Boxall-Hunt O.B.E. issued a letter to Belvedere House’s 100 staff members recognising their hard work, dedication, and many sacrifices made […]
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Maritime Care Home Flies the Flag to Mark VE Day 75
Staff and residents at Surrey-based maritime charity and nursing care home, The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, commemorated a very special VE Day 75 from afar this year with the help of some local school children. With residents and tenants at the Royal Alfred currently in isolation, pupils from Woodmansterne Primary School in Banstead, Surrey, decided […]
Full articleSeafarers Awareness Week 2020
This year we marked the UK’s tenth annual Seafarers Awareness Week (6-12 July) with tales from the high seas from our seafaring residents and tenants. Seafarers Awareness Week 2020 highlighted the immense challenges faced by merchant seafarers and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic and we wanted to pay tribute to the unsung heroes of […]
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Maritime Charity Celebrates Women’s Contributions to Armed Forces on International Women’s Day
Banstead-based maritime charity The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society is celebrating International Women’s Day by sharing the stories of the five Wrens living at its care home, Belvedere House. Wrens (Women’s Royal Naval Service) played a huge part in the war efforts of WWI and WWII, with women carrying out important roles such as Radio Operators, […]
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Green Sea: Maritime Charity Cuts Carbon Footprint
Surrey-based care home, The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, is reaping the rewards of its green initiatives after cutting its plastic usage by 74,000 items per year to dramatically reduce its carbon footprint. The maritime charity caters for 68 residents at its Belvedere House nursing care home and has prevented 52,000 plastic cups and 22,000 wet […]
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We salute you, Captain Glass
After a decade at the helm as Chairman of Trustees of Surrey-based maritime charity, The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, Captain Duncan Glass has announced his retirement. Captain Glass started his journey with The Royal Alfred 16 years ago when he became a Trustee for the charity, before being appointed as Vice Chair in 2007 and […]
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Maritime Care Home Welcomes Public To Open Day
The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society opened its doors on 10 July in celebration of Seafarers Awareness Week (8 – 14 July) 2019.
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Royal Alfred Veterans to Commemorate D-Day Through Musical Memories
Veterans from The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society will take part in a unique D-Day event in Portsmouth on 7 June to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landings. Lieutenant Commander Geoffrey Haskins, Legion of Honour and Robert Ball, Legion of Honour, both reside as tenants at The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society’s Weston Acres estate […]
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Maritime charity celebrates AGM
HRH Princess Anne joins The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society in celebrating another year’s achievements of the maritime charity at its 153rd Annual General Meeting The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society was honoured by the presence of royalty at maritime institution Trinity House in London as HRH Princess Anne joined Trustees, staff, residents, tenants, volunteers and other […]
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Royal Alfred Celebrates Contribution of Female Staff on International Women’s Day
The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society is celebrating International Women’s Day by raising awareness of the social care industry’s dependence on dedicated female care workers. According to a recent Skills for Care[1] report, adult social care services rely heavily on skilled and ancillary female staff. More than four fifths of the entire UK social care workforce is made up by women and 84% of workers in care homes with nursing staff are female.
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Maritime Care Home Appoints New Creative Catering Manager
The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society has appointed a new Catering Manager, Matt Goodman, to run the kitchen at its Surrey care home following the retirement of long-serving staff member Jenny O’Neil.
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Seafaring Success For Award-Winning Royal Alfred
Banstead-based maritime charity the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society is celebrating a double win for its staff from the recent Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards. The charity, which caters for retired seafarers, their families and dependents, as well as residents living with dementia at its care home, Belvedere House, scooped awards for Housekeeping Manager Shirley Campbell […]
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Surrey Care Home Sails Towards Awards Success
Banstead-based maritime care charity the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society is celebrating being shortlisted for six care awards in just one week. The care home and charity, which caters for retired seafarers, their families and dependents, as well as residents living with dementia, has been nominated in a range of categories at the Surrey Care Awards […]
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Royal Alfred Promotes Dementia Awareness On World Alzheimer’s Day
Surrey-based care home The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society is marking World Alzheimer’s Day (21 September) by helping to raise awareness of the disease and dementia – a symptom often linked to Alzheimer’s. In the UK there are 850,000 people living with dementia and many do not have the right support to cope with the condition. […]
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Maritime Care Home Welcomes Public To Open Day
In celebration of Seafarers Awareness Week 2018, Banstead based care home The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society opened its doors on 27 June, to welcome members of the public and local community to join staff and residents in raising awareness of the sector at the Society’s annual Open Day.
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Maritime Charity Celebrates AGM
Residents, tenants, volunteers, staff and other distinguished guests turned out in force to London on 1 June, to celebrate 152 years of The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society at the maritime charity’s Annual General Meeting.
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Care Staff Embark On Pioneering Maritime Training
Staff at maritime charity, The Royal Seafarers’ Society, have taken part in the care facility’s pioneering Maritime Acquaint Training programme which helps staff better understand their seafaring residents.
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Maritime Care Home Wins Technology Grant
The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society has launched an innovative therapy programme at its Banstead home after winning a £5,000 grant to fund new technology.
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Home Manager, Anne Kasey, celebrates 35 years of service to the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society
Our Home Manager from Sutton is celebrating 35 years’ service to the Banstead-based maritime charity, having dedicated her life to the care of former seafarers and mariners. Home Manager, Anne Kasey, from the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society first joined the Society as a nurse at the previous care home located in another area of Banstead in 1983. She worked her way up to become the home’s most senior nurse and manager in 2006.
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The Royal Alfred Wins Laing Buisson Award
The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society has won Residential Care Home Provider of the Year – Small Organisation at the prestigious Laing Buisson Awards. The award recognises the top quality care facilities that the independent charity provides in its Surrey nursing care home for former seafarers and their dependents.
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Maritime Charity Sails Towards Fundraising Target
Banstead-based maritime charity, the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, has raised nearly £4,000 in support of the charity Seafarers UK by completing the annual 24 Peaks Challenge. The team of caring and estates staff from the Society’s specialist maritime nursing home, Belvedere House, put in months of preparation and training to compete in one of the nation’s most gruelling challenges. All money raised goes to support the national maritime charity Seafarers UK, which has been helping people in the maritime community for a century.
Full articleMum’s The Word at Banstead Care Home
A mother and daughter team at the Banstead-based care home of the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society are highlighting the benefits of families working together, as they celebrate Mother’s Day this Sunday (26 March).
Valerie Dunbar, a Kitchen Assistant at the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society’s nursing care home and a mother of four, has worked at Belvedere House in Surrey for more than a decade, with her daughter Joanne joining as a General Assistant at the age of 16. Both outgoing and passionate about their roles, they enjoy bringing a smile to the faces of residents and have proven to be a perfect fit for the home’s vibrant team.
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Tailored New Training for Care Home Staff
Award-winning seafarers’ nursing care home, Belvedere House of the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, has launched an innovative training scheme to help staff better understand the life experiences of their residents and enable them to tailor care provision to best suit residents’ needs.
The programme, which was the brain child of Chief Executive Commander Brian Boxall-Hunt, aims to help staff deal with residents’ more challenging behaviour and understand the reasons and causes behind the more complex behavioural manifestations some of the most vulnerable, former seafaring residents present.
Full articleCare Home Celebrates More Than 400 Years Of Happy Marriage
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, residents and staff have shared their recipe for a happy-ever-after marriage for younger couples. They recommend being tolerant, understanding and grateful as key ingredients for a happy marriage as well as ‘doing what the wife says’.
Residents Mr and Mrs Hatfield have been married for 70 years after meeting in 1947 at a Valentine’s Day dance at their local golf club in Somerset. Mr Hatfield proposed later that year and they married shortly after, celebrating with a two week honeymoon in Bournemouth.
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Seafarers’ Care Home Head Celebrates 10 Years at the Helm
Commander Brian Boxall-Hunt OBE is celebrating ten successful years as Chief Executive at the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society care home in Banstead, Surrey.
The former Royal Navy officer has overseen a time of great change for the Society. The last decade has seen an ambitious raft of improvements to the home, including the installation of a dementia annexe, several royal visits and its 150th anniversary celebration in 2015.
Full articleGOOD Rating for Surrey Care Home
Staff at Royal Alfred are celebrating after achieving a resounding GOOD rating in its latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) report after a recent unannounced inspection.
Full articleMaritime Charity Sails to Success at Awards Ceremony
Banstead-based care home, the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society has sailed to success after taking home two awards at this year’s prestigious Surrey Care Association Awards.
Full articleSociety Conquers 24 Peaks Challenge
For the second year an intrepid team from Banstead-based care home, The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, completed a gruelling 24 Peaks Challenge
Full articleCrowning Event of 150th Anniversary Celebrations
Royal Alfred celebrated 150 years of providing care to former mariners with a visit from its royal Patron.
Full articleMaritime Charity Takes Home Green Award
The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society has taken home the Green Award at the Toast of Surrey Business Awards following efforts to cut its carbon footprint and operate in a more environmentally friendly way.
Full articleSurrey Care Home Welcomes Mayor
In no way put off by the heavy rain at the start of the anniversary year, the Royal Alfred team were joined by the Mayor of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, Councillor David Pay
Full articleGolden Oldies Going Green
A maritime care home in Surrey has taken a huge leap into the world of green living, cutting its carbon footprint and working towards becoming self-sufficient.
Full articleHeroic D-Day Veteran Honoured With Remembrance Award
Mr Roy Ticehurst, has received a prestigious award from the nation’s leading commemorative company, The Bradford Exchange.
Full articleCare Home Calls For More Dementia Friendly Communities
Royal Alfred is calling for more dementia friendly communities after new reports revealed more than 800,000 people are now living with the disease.
Full articleRoyal Seal Of Approval For Maritime Charity
Two trustees of of Royal Alfred have been presented with long service awards by HRH The Princess Royal
Full articleRoyal Alfred Becomes A Dementia Friend
A maritime care home has joined the national ‘Dementia Friends’ campaign
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