THE first symbolic spades hit the ground this week for a new five-bedroom nursing and complex needs facility that will support Islanders with learning disabilities.
Les Amis trustees were joined by Trinity Constable Philip Le Sueur on Wednesday to ceremonially break ground on “Project Trinity”.
Construction work on the Rue de Bechet site is scheduled to begin from Monday 2 June.
Les Amis raised a hefty £3.5 million to buy the property and fund the development of the building, which the charity hopes will transform the lives of Islanders with additional needs due to age or dementia.
Plans for the project were approved in September, and Hacquoil and Cook have now been appointed as main contractor to carry out works designed by Page Architects.
Les Amis managing director Shaun Findlay said: “We’re delighted that we can at last get spades into the ground and begin the work to get this important facility open.
“The most important thing to understand about Project Trinity is that it will enable us to continue to care for those we support when their nursing needs become more complex.”
Mr Findlay explained that the facility will also facilitate end-of-life care, something that’s not possible in the charity’s existing 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 said.
“That’s why this new facility is so important and needed in Jersey.”
Leslie Norman, charity chair and trustee, agreed that the facility “has been needed for a long time”.
“We almost got there with the Maison des Amis project at the former Hampshire Hotel, but this bespoke facility will be the first of its kind in the Channel Islands,” he said.
“Getting this project underway is the perfect way to celebrate our 50th anniversary year.”
