Press Release: October 2022

Abbeyfield South Downs will be burying a time capsule to mark the opening of its affordable rental development Holdenhurst, inviting the local Heathfield community to get involved.

The time capsule will be buried under the iconic Monkey Puzzle tree on Mill Road, in front of the building, by local MP Huw Merriman, accompanied by Abbeyfield South Downs’s CEO Nolan Taylor, on Friday 4 November. It will include items that illustrate what it is like to live in Heathfield in 2022, as well as the history of the building.

Heathfield Community Contribute Items

Abbeyfield South Downs, a registered charity that offers Care Enabled housing for older people from the local community, has invited schools, community groups, businesses and residents of the town to contribute content, including photography of Heathfield, drawings, poems and stories from local school children describing and illustrating what living in Heathfield means to them, as well as contributions from local societies and clubs. The capsule will also include coins, stamps, a disused iPhone, front pages of national and local papers published on the day of the time capsule burial as well as a soil sample taken from the grounds of Holdenhurst in an airtight vial.

Nolan Taylor, Chief Executive of Abbeyfield South Downs, commented:

We are extremely excited to bury the time capsule and have enjoyed working with the Heathfield community to ensure its contents are truly representative of what it is like living in this thriving market town. After the last couple of years everyone has had, it has been a fun and positive focus to bring the community together even more. Holdenhurst has long been a part of the community and local people will continue to play an important role at the affordable housing scheme and we thought there no better way to commemorate this by burying a time capsule. Over many years, the site has been a facility for older members of the community and in its most recent incarnation, Holdenhurst regularly hosted the local Age UK day centre lunches and we hope the new building will be similarly used by local community groups.

The Holdenhurst Scheme

The new Holdenhurst development comprises 48 affordable rental apartments, offering enhanced sheltered housing in a care-enabled environment to anyone over 60.

Holdenhurst has been designed to attract tenants who want to live in a vibrant and like-minded community where active, independent living is at its heart, but with the option of additional services if required, now or in the future. A restaurant, café and bar, hairdressing salon and a wellbeing suite for exercise, activities and crafts will also be on-site for tenants to use, as well as accessible spaces for local groups to have a place to meet.

The capsule will be buried on-site on Friday 4 November, followed by a launch party for its tenants, those who have played a role in the development and the time capsule, as well as members of the local Heathfield community.

The time capsule will be marked by a plaque and will be dug back up in fifty years’ time.

-ENDS-

Press Information

For more press information including interview opportunities with Nolan Taylor and high-res photography, please contact Sarah Jones at Wilderness PR.

E: sarah@wildernesspr.co.uk | T: 07775 582 497