Maison Des Amis: The Fundraising Continues

As the work continues to prepare the former Hampshire Hotel in Val Plaisant before its transformation into Maison des Amis. thought it would be useful to write an update on where we have got to so far. But before I do that, here is a reminder of what we are trying to achieve.

Mason des Amis is an ambitious project. When the opportunity to buy the former Hampshire Hotel came up, we were extremely fortunate that a significant private donation allowed us to buy the building and start converting it into a bespoke facility that will offer appropriate healthcare and specialist elderly care.

Once it is open, it will be the only residential home of its kind in the Channel Islands and will provide a higher level of residential nursing care to people with Down's Syndrome and other learning disabilities who have nursing or special-care needs, including those with early on-set dementia.

That is a significant challenge, especially as it is expected that the number of people with dementia will double in the next 20 years. That will pose particular challenges for the adequate provision of care for people with learning disabilities and specific needs. But this ambition will need supporting. We will continue with our programme of fundraising, which includes the successful VW campervan raffle (tickets are selling fast, by the way), but we will also need to secure external sources of financial support through grants and sponsorships.

We have been so lucky to have already received help from the Association of Jersey Charities, the Greville Bathe Fund, Jersey Freemasons and the Le Seelleur Fund, to name but a few. When we took possession of the building back in December, we reached out to other charities and donated equipment and furniture before selling what was left over to local hospitality businesses, raising £20,000.

Les Amis is actively seeking people to join our board of directors and trustees to tap into the expertise that is out there. Our newest trustee, Chris Moulder, joins at an exciting time for the charity. He was senior partner at RSM, which provides audit, tax and consulting services. With a background in advising the property and not-for-profit sectors, his experience will bring a direct benefit in supplementing the considerable skills of the existing trustees, particularly as the Maison des Amis project moves forward.

Chris said: 'The specialist nursing and sheltered accommodation facility we are developing in Val Plaisant follows the ethos of Les Amis to help people who require our assistance to remain within the community. Something like this doesn't happen overnight. It is a big project and I hope I can give Les Amis some of mv business advisors experience on the property side and I have been delighted to get involved at this early stage in the development. More generally, there are significant challenges in making sure that there are proper levels of funding that will meet the needs of people with learning disabilities. My goal will be to help Les Amis achieve its ambition of ensuring that the long-term needs or Islanders are met.'

There are very few places in the British Isles that offer care for people who require specialist assistance throughout their lives and certainly nothing in the Channel Islands that will even come close to Mason des Amis when it opens its doors. We know that this will relieve the significant pressure on the health sector because of staff shortages and the pandemic, which have presented some significant challenges to all of us working within care.

Our staff are amazing people who provide an amazing service daily. Even after the pressures of the pandemic, they have stuck by us and those we serve which is an absolute credit to them. Without them, Les Amis would not be able to function.

This is an awareness week for Les Amis. Please speak to us at our stall in King Street where you can also pick up a raffle ticket that will not only give you the chance to win a brand-new VW campervan but will also help us to raise the funds we need to run our services.

For more information please contact us by emailing info@lesamis.org.je