There were celebrations as the state of the art, brand new Blantyre Care Hub recently officially opened.

The Blantyre Care Hub facility which is officially now called “Blantyre Life” is situated on the site of the former St Joseph’s School, just off Glasgow Road. The opening ceremony on Thursday 15th June 2023, was attended by the Provost and representatives from all partners involved in this award winning development, which was supported by Scottish Government funding given to the previous SLC administration.

Built by Cruden Group, the transformational, excellent facilities provided on this multi-million pound development has delivered a 20 bedded transitional care hub – with community facilities – and 20 new technology enabled properties, all equipped with state of the art telecare systems to support independent living and care fit for the 21st Century.

The facility had been opened since March 23, but official opening ceremony was decided upon for June.

A key innovation is the interactive technology enabled care (TEC) Zone designed in partnership with Glasgow Science Centre. The local authority said that the TEC Zone demonstrates how technology can play a crucial role in supporting people to live safely, independently and happily at home.

Steven Simpson, MD of Cruden Group, said, “This has been a fantastic collaboration to deliver exceptional, technology-enabled homes that will allow older people to live more independently.

“The state-of-the-art homes and care campus have been built to the highest standards to be warm, comfortable and highly energy-efficient and right in the heart of the community.”

On the same site there is a further development of 25 new council homes creating new social housing at the centre of Blantyre.

South Lanarkshire Council said that the housing and care campus ‘champions’ the ‘home for life’ principle, with an emphasis on enabling more people to live as independently as possible within their own homes.

Provost Margaret Cooper, who officially opened the facility, said, “It was fantastic to have the opportunity in person to express on behalf of the council our gratitude to all those staff who have worked so hard to deliver what is a truly impressive development.

“It was also quite inspiring to be both shown around the state-of-the-art facility and hear first-hand from staff providing care about how they are using their expertise to support people to live well, safely, and independently at home.

“The benefits of Blantyre Life will be felt across the whole of South Lanarkshire, and indeed I look forward to what is being accomplished here inspiring others across Scotland.”

Director of health and social care for South Lanarkshire, Professor Soumen Sengupta, added, “My congratulations and appreciation to all of our staff and all of our partners for what has been accomplished here.

“These are starkly challenging times for health and social care, and for the communities we serve – Blantyre Life shows the impact that collaboration and innovation can make to delivering positive outcomes for local people.”

When you consider the long road getting to this welcome milestone, everybody should be extremely proud of what’s been accomplished and what this means for the community and residents.