We understand that choosing a residential care home for yourself or a loved one can be a real worry. Be reassured that at Abbeyfield we are dedicated to providing outstanding care by employing well-trained, permanent staff and by treating all our residents as individuals – in a homely, family environment.
As an independent charity, our sole purpose is your care and wellbeing. Abbeyfield Taunton is different from many other care homes … it really does feel like being part of a family, where everybody is cared for cheerfully, yet with respect.
We’ve been providing first class care for nearly thirty years with an experienced team who provide genuine 24/7 personal care to our 44 residents.
Day Care is available for those needing occasional help or perhaps just wanting to try us out, whilst our main Residential and specialist Dementia units cater for a wide range of requirements.
In addition to single rooms, we have six Apartments which are ideal for individuals or couples.
Every potential resident has individual needs and concerns and we invite you to discuss them in confidence either by telephoning or visiting us.
The kettle is always on.
Since opening in 1987, our home has undergone two major extensions but the quality of our care and the family atmosphere has never changed.
The Manager, Jill Byford, has been in charge since the day we opened. Her dedication and experience, tog ether with similar lengths of service in the senior team, underpin the “Good” rating in our most recent Inspection Report.
Each resident has their own comfortable room with toilet and washing facilities. Furniture is usually provided but favourite items may be used to promote a homely and individual space.

Our fees are very competitive (we are “not-for-profit”) and fully inclusive of 24 hour care, laundry, cleaning, food and fuel bills. Residents will normally only need extra funds for additional costs such as clothing, hairdressing, chiropody, physiotherapy etc.
We have our own transport so usually we can take residents out for dental or hospital appointments.
We are always pleased to welcome visitors to our home, and we are always available to discuss resi dents’ wellbeing with next of kin.
Residential care is offered in 20 comfortable en-suite rooms, most on the ground floor and overlooking pleasant communal gardens. We have a comfortable lounge and dining room, plus a room where we enjoy visits from entertainers and musicians as well as regular activities.
This is our residents’ home, to which we invite visits from the appropriate medical teams, hairdresser, chiropodist, aromatherapist etc. It is specially equipped; for example, our bathrooms have new lifting baths, so that staff can care for residents safely and conveniently.
For our staff, care is about doing more than just what’s necessary. Whilst they are on hand at all times of day and night to help with everyday tasks, they are also happy to take time to sit and chat with residents, which helps to promote companionship and engender that family atmosphere we’re so proud of.
Visitors are welcome at all appropriate times and we have comfortable corners of the house and gardens, where you can have more privacy if you wish.
We have six “self-contained” ground floor apartments, each made up of a large lounge, kitchenette, twin bedroom and shower room. Designed for single or double occupancy, they enable couples to continue to live together in a supported and caring environment for longer than otherwise might be possible.
Experience has shown that care in our Apartments often provides a very useful solution where one partner needs significantly more care than the other and as requirements change, this can be properly reflected in this flexible unit. Special rates apply to double occupancy.

We do encourage residents to eat in the separate dining room in this wing to promote companionship, but you may eat in your own rooms if you prefer.
As with residents in the main Residential Care rooms, everyone in the Apartment Wing is included in all activities and outings. They are free to come and go as they please.
Our small Dementia Unit, upgraded in 2014, is a self-contained wing and provides a greater degree of help and security for those suffering from the effects of memory loss. Quality of care is really important and our well trained staff are both sensitive and patient. Our aim is to give those with dementia real quality of life.
Residents in this wing and its adjoining garden are protected from wandering by keypad security, so families can be reassured that their relatives are properly looked after at all times in a caring and intensively supported location.
Rooms are all provided with toilet and washing facilities and residents are encouraged to bring some of their own belongings to promote familiarity and a sense of comfort and security. There is ample lounge and dining room space so visits can take place with greater privacy.
Some activities in the Dementia unit are tailored to their more specific and individual needs, but other organised activities and outings are designed to be appropriate for Dementia care residents to be included if they wish.
Non-residential Day Care is available for a few people every day. This enables our home to provide support when it’s most needed to local families, as well as the opportunity to experience a “taster” for those considering a first move to assisted living.
Meals are provided at a low cost and our day care visitors are encouraged to join permanent residents in the activities of the day. If required, we can provide transport to and from our home in our own vehicle, driven by our own staff.
A number of our current residents came to know us through day care, which made their transition to assisted living less challenging. Why not try us out for the day?

Our aim is to provide “home cooking on a grand scale”. Particular emphasis is placed on the quality of meals so wherever possible we use fresh ingredients and local suppliers. This enables our experienced kitchen team to provide a choice of three healthy, well-balanced meals each day, not forgetting the home baking.
We always provide variety and our permanent staff soon learn the likes and dislikes of residents so they get the food and drink they like, whether it’s a glass of sherry before lunch or “I don’t like fish”.
Each wing has its own dining room with tables nicely laid, usually for four, so mealtimes are also an important part of the social activity of the day.
The importance we place on catering is reflected in our recent project to completely refurbish our kitchen helped by a substantial grant from local charity, the Wilton Trust.
A stimulating programme of mental and gentle physical activity is an essential element of providing quality of life, but nobody has to join in; some residents prefer to spend most of their time in their own room or in private activity and we respect that wish.
That said, most welcome the activities, entertainments and outings put on by our two Activities
Co-ordinators. These include afternoons playing Whist or Scrabble, gentle exercise classes, craft work, musical entertainment etc. Occasionally we have special events like a cocktail hour or a barbeque and some residents join occasional trips out in our minibus, for example to Snowdrop
Valley.
We have a monthly Communion Service and regular visits from our experienced Chaplain, and we keep anniversaries, for example a special service on Remembrance Sunday, because these memories are important.
Abbeyfield Taunton is part of the wider Abbeyfield Society, a charitable organisation with over
500 houses and homes around the country, and patrons including HRH The Prince of Wales. It has nearly 60 years’ experience in providing safe and secure care environments where residents can find friendship and support.

Every Abbeyfield home is different, catering to the individual needs of its residents and providing a unique environment – but the over-riding philosophy and ethos is the same: a genuine commitment to providing the very highest level of personal care in friendly, stimulating and welcoming surroundings.
You can find out more about Abbeyfield, its history and its ethos by visiting the group website. www.abbeyfield.com
As a not for profit organisation run for the benefit of local people, by local people, Abbeyfield
Taunton has a Board of Trustees who offer guidance in the governance and management of the house and get involved in any strategic decisions. Our trustees come from a range of backgrounds and professions, but all donate their time and expertise on a voluntary basis to help us to continue to achieve our goal: providing the very best quality of care, in a stimulating, homely environment, for all our residents.
Our current trustees are:
Gary Davies, Chairman – Retired Senior Police Officer, now commissions targeted services for children, young people and families,
Malcolm Derry, Treasurer – Accountant
Stuart Adam, Secretary – Businessman
David Brown – Architect
Will Coles – Financial Adviser
Sharon Collier – Solicitor
Stephen Jenkins – Retailer
Morag Howsam – Nursing Sister
David Montgomery – Advertising
Rosemary Palfrey – Nursing Sister
You can contact Gary Davies on his private email daviesgary@me.com