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Our Support
Our dedicated and professional team collectively has decades of experience in providing residential support to people with mental health conditions, including those exacerbated by drugs and alcohol.
We’ve all got a close bond with the local community, and close relationships with medical professionals including dentists, doctors and opticians, so we can ensure that everyone at Freehold Cottage receives the specialised care they need.
The Building
Freehold Cottage is located on Market Street, which is the main road that leads from Rochdale through Whitworth and Shawforth and up to Bacup. Alongside these convenient transport links, it’s also next to open countryside, and is set on a hillside surrounded by valleys and lush nature.
Like many of the houses in the Lancashire countryside, our residential home is built with York stone, with a stone-walled garden set at the back. There are two upstairs toilets – one for men and one for women – and one downstairs toilet, as well as a lounge, a kitchen, a dining room, a utility room and the staff room.
Daily Life
Food
You’ll love mealtimes at Freehold Cottage! We listen to what each individual likes and what they don’t like, and then prepare delicious home-cooked food based on their preferences.
Residents don’t just enjoy the food – if they’re interested, they’re more than welcome to take a role in its preparation, and can even make their own food from scratch should they wish. We’ll be on hand to provide help if needed and to give them the support they need to eat a healthy, balanced diet with dishes they love. Everyone at the home helps us to decide what goes on the shopping list.
Our staff are trained in food safety and hygiene so they comply with all relevant food safety regulations, and guests are happily accommodated with drinks and snacks.
Activities
As well as looking at television and listening to music, there are opportunities for the residents to enjoy many other recreational activities. Going for walks, swimming, day outings, eating out, enjoying handicrafts and art, gardening, trips, inventing games to while away the wet Lancashire days, are part and parcel of the home’s provisions.
Community facilities, i.e. Occupational Therapy, Industrial Therapy, Community Day Centres, Employment Training Schemes, are employed for the benefit of residents wishing to take advantage of such services.
Religion
Our team knows how important personalised care is, and this includes supporting residents with their religious and spiritual needs. If anyone would like a visit from local religious leaders or to go to a nearby place of worship, we’re happy to make suitable arrangements, so you can be confident that our dedicated staff will do what they can to support mental, physical and even spiritual development.
Finances
We want our residents to be as responsible and independent as they can be, and give them all the assistance they need to manage their own money. This involves helping them visit the banks, building societies and post offices. In some instances, residents cannot realistically manage their finances, and in these cases administration of their assets is carried out to exceed the best practices as directed by the Lancashire County Council Guide to the Registered Homes Act 1984.
Visiting
We love visitors in our Whitworth residential home – people from Lancashire and beyond come to spend time with their friends and family at Freehold Cottage.
Please come between 10am and 10pm. If you wish to come outside of these times, this is possible in special circumstances or if you have spoke to the management.
Terms and Conditions
After a two month trial period, a written record will confirm that the manager or resident can terminate the period of residence following a two month notice period.
We will provide full board, continuous snack provisions, regular trips out, laundry provisions, materials for pastimes, and anything else that can be reasonably considered as a necessary provision for an acceptable level of comfort.
Grievances
We hope all grievances are minor and will be resolved quickly and with little distress. Residents will be informed of the whereabouts and availability of the complaints registry and the contact information of the authority the can raise complaints with. The complaints register can be inspected by the Commission for Social Care Inspection.
Fees
Fees are calculated based on an individual’s support and care needs, and payments can be made from any source, including the resident themselves and their family. We want everyone who needs us to be able to use us, and will not exclude anyone because they can’t pay the full fee, but we’ll do what we can to help them gain funding.
Personal allowance payments
We believe that the DSS’s provision for personal allowances is not sufficient, and when residents are completely reliant on Universal Basic Income and are unable to make ends meet, we will make provisions to top up their allowance.