Brian launches a book about living in a village
"There's information on the internet, but people prefer paper," Brian Colegate, a resident at Coastal Villas retirement village in Paraparaumu, said about making the important decision to move to a retirement village.
"Other than open days and receiving information from sales staff, there wasn't anything else to use to make a judgement," he wrote in his brand-new book Retirement Villages - Residents' Verdict.
Brian launched his book at Coastal Villas on Monday 13 July 2020. It's a very positive story about his decision to move to a village and the many steps on the way to settling in. The focus is to help others to decide whether village life is for them, and walks through the process of selling the family home, decluttering, what to look for in the village, and settling in.
The book's not just Brian's own view. While researching it, Brian sent out 200 questionnaires to residents in other villages across New Zealand, asking them about their experiences. He got 90 replies, and in response to his question "Do you like it here?", 83 people said "yes", 4 said "I love it" and 3 said "it's OK". Many residents from across the country wrote about their own journey to the village, and Brian has included a selection in his book. A key message is one we all repeat - "Don't leave it too late; make sure you come in young enough to settle more readily and make social networks that are less easily achieved in older age".
Brian also sent a survey to 80 non-residents in the relevant age group and got 62 replies. He asked whether they'd given any thought to living in a village, and if so, what they thought of the proposition. 41 said they had considered the idea, and while a number were discouraged by the LTO model, a sizable minority agreed that they were interested in moving in. The village surroundings, access to health care, being somewhere that's maintenance-free, cost savings and an improvement in the quality of life were the reasons given for making the move.
There's a chapter written by local solicitor Graham Mowbray pointing out the importance of competent legal advice, and, bringing the book really up to date, there's a chapter on living under lockdown in a village which makes fascinating reading!
At the launch Graham told us that he's advised at least 250 people about moving to a village and of that number, three changed their minds during the cooling-off period and, having moved in, only two people decided that village life wasn't for them.
He noted that, ultimately, "things" aren't important. What really matters, Graham said to nods of encouragement around the room, are "connections, a sense of belonging, family and love", all of which can be found in a village. If you have a positive attitude, Graham noted, then fitting into a village is very easy.
Copies of the book are available directly from Brian at rbcolegate@gmail.com ($20) or your local Paper Plus store. Post and packing extra.
