A community with heart
Stepping ahead
Brookshaw caters for all aspects of retired individuals, and has a fully equipped and staffed frail care centre.
It offers tenants various choices including single rooms, flats and apartments, and caters for both individuals and couples. The history of the 55-year-old centre is one of warmth and generosity - and that’s the atmosphere that prevails in and around the circular turret of the main building and the flats, apartments and clusters that make up the complex.
In 1960, Laura Elizabeth Brookshaw (née Chapman) died aged 93. A home for the aged was her inspiration and she provided a bequest of R 46 000 (a great deal of money at the time) for the establishment of Brookshaw Home for elderly citizens of Grahamstown.
The Rotary Club of Grahamstown offered to assist the trustees, and the next year, Rotarian A K Rautenbach, mayor at the time, convened a meeting of churches and community service organisations to elect an advisory council that would help realise the intention of the bequest.
Colonel C E Espin, MC, trustee of the Brookshaw Bequest, suggested that R20 000 should be spent on establishing the home, with the remaining R26 000 reserved for subsidising residents who could not afford the full cost. The spirit of assisting those in need continues to this day.
The advisory council urged the trustees to purchase the villa known as Woodville and its annexe, St Michael’s Lodge, at 9 Donkin Street. It had just come on the market. Built by Richard Graham Stone in 1849, the property has a fascinating history that is closely bound up with the history of Grahamstown.
Stone had the property for only 11 years before he went insolvent. It was bought by George Wood, who gave it its name, Woodville. He was a trader and founder of the general dealer’s business, Wood Brothers and his son was the first Mayor of Grahamstown.
In 1884 Mother Cecile of the Community of the Resurrection was permitted to use the house and its annexe, St Michaels (which they purchased years later), for an orphanage and a training school, a project the nuns ran for nearly 70 years.
When the Nationalist government stopped subsidising the smaller orphanages, the extensive site between Donkin and Beaufort Streets was ready for a new role.
After the purchase of the site in 1961, the Advisory Committee was enlarged and Rotarian L Engels, architectural advisor, planned the restoration of Woodville and the conversion of St. Michael’s.
Local building contractors helped and advised freely. Members of the Rotary Club of Grahamstown and the Rotary Anns undertook the furnishing the home and the garden layout with much hands-on activity. Round Table contributed built-in cupboards in the servery.
Rhodes University donated an Esse stove and provided a large refrigerator at cost.
By 1 February 1962 the first residents were able to move in and a little later the Department of Social Welfare and Pensions granted the home registration as a Welfare Organisation. Brookshaw Home is governed by a Council elected by the residents at their annual AGM.
Between 1963 and 1996 Espin Lodge and Shuttleworth Lodge were erected in the grounds, greatly expanding the amount and range of accommodation, and an extension was added for the dining room and an enlarged kitchen.
Later, the purchase of Guardian Lodge added four two-bedroom and four one-bedroom flats to the complex. In 2002 a Frail Care unit costing about R1 million was completed and joined to St. Michael’s Lodge, which now catered for the semifrail. Expansion and renovation have continued.
Brookshaw Home thanks the Grahamstown Community for their loyal, generous assistance and support in so many ways, including the annual fête.
• This article is based on one Robin Palmer wrote five years
ago, for the home’s 50-year celebrations. Palmer in turn based
his piece on historical research carried out by Brookshaw resident
Alan Bamford. A lot has happened at Brookshaw Retirement Home since it opened its doors in 1962 - and particularly in the past five years, when several upgrades have been undertaken. Administrator Judy Harvey said safety, comfort and companionship were priorities for residents, and since 2012 the centre has: * Upgraded security, with CCTV cameras and electric fences; * Upgraded the frail care rooms, converting some baths to showers, sanding floors and replacing carpets among other renovations; * Created space for a nail parlour and spa on the premises; * Brought in a full-time bookkeeper who now works on-site. The home remains fully compliant with the Older Persons Act, Judy said.