Couple celebrate 40 years of managing care home near Swindon

Mary and Keith Trowbridge opened Ashgrove House in Purton on June 1, 1984, promising to provide “care with a difference” in a “friendly and happy place”, according to an Adver article from the time.

After converting a large old house into the new facility, the two nurses aimed to offer care on an individual 24-hours basis by skilled staff and have done just that for four decades.

The Trowbridges told the Adver back in the day that “this is not a run-of-the-mill rest home” and have put a lot of time and effort into backing up that boast.

Several extensions have boosted the amount of en-suite bedrooms from 11 mostly-shared spaces to 33 singles along with a sharing room for a couple, and created enough room for several lounges, a café with a garden area, a cinema area, and a hair salon.

The CQC has awarded Ashgrove House the grade of Outstanding for more than eight years in four of five categories: Caring, Effective, Responsive and Well Led.

Many of the 100 employees that help the elderly residents have worked there for more than 30 years and have been joined by their children and grandchildren.

A Swindon Advertiser article from June 1984 features Keith and Mary Trowbridge at Ashgrove House (Image: Newsquest)

Keith said: “It was a struggle to make ends meet, especially when our young family came along, so we took the plunge and borrowed a chunk of money and set up our own business.

“It’s been a fabulous journey ever since and we don’t regret a single day.

“The best thing has been being able to set our own standard of care without the constraints of the health service. We believe we’ve got better and better over the years and have learnt to rely on our ability to choose and develop a wonderful and caring staff team.

“We’ve been so blessed to have been able to care for some wonderful people over the years and we try to treat everyone in the same way as if they were our own family members.

“We find that many people as they get older and frailer are also in danger of becoming lonely and more isolated, so, we’ve developed a fantastic activity team who make sure every day is packed with fun and rewarding activities and creating genuine friendships.

“Amazingly, our three children have all developed brilliant and successful careers in the care sector too and we really couldn’t be more proud of them all. I guess it’s in the genes.”

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