Back to the floor – tending to Chiltern Court

Rendall & Rittner’s Area Director, Jonathan Astle, visited Chiltern Court in Reading to work for a day as the on-site Gardener.

Chiltern Court is a Senior Living development managed by Rendall & Rittner with a Development Manager, experienced in working with retired residents, living right on the site. It is this ‘at home’ and on-hand availability to residents that makes it all the friendlier.

The Development Manager, James Mazurke, often carries out gardening at the site so I thought as his Area Director I should pop on the sunscreen and get stuck in, to trimming, weeding and general tidying of the grounds so I could see for myself how it feels to work on-site

The role was very interactive and having a chance to get involved and build rapport with each resident is very important, whatever job you have, whether a Gardener, Cleaner or Area Director. I loved the fact that while working, residents came by to say hello, it was great to have the chance to get to know them more.

For Senior Living residents, the safety and tidiness of our blocks and grounds is so important, much so than say our on-line offerings. With that comes a much more personable approach to customer service. At Chiltern Court this was excellent, with the on-site Development Manager offering genuine, helpful advice, personal support and collaboration.

Spending a day on site in the sunny garden has enabled me to see how much work James does on site here. He loves his job and the residents regularly said they’d be lost without him! This proves that at Rendall & Rittner we don’t just manage buildings but also provide a service for the community that lives there. It is great to see the Rendall & Rittner Senior Living model working so well at this development. The residents were an important part of my experience during my day as Gardener, and I would like to extend my warm thanks to them and the Development Manager for being so welcoming and supportive.

The image shows Jonathan Astle (L) with resident Ken Potter (R).