St. Martin’s Story
The story begins in the early 1980s when the proprietor of St. Martin’s, Bernice Underhill, first became interested in working with the elderly after caring for her grandmother one summer. Soon after, she undertook voluntary work at Elderslea, a day centre and residential home for the elderly.
Bernice decided that she wanted to pursue this work further and persuaded her husband, Stan, to sell the family home and buy a property large enough for their family to live in along with some permanent elderly residents.
In 1986, this ambition was realised when they opened Newhavens Rest Home, a three storey Victorian house situated in Vesey Road, Sutton Coldfield. The home provided residential care for 8 residents. Bernice, Stan and their three children lived on the 2nd floor of the house, while the residents had rooms on the ground and first floor.
Newhavens ran until mid-1992, when Bernice and Stan opened St. Martin’s Nursing Home, also in Vesey Road. Initially, the home provided 24 hour nursing care for 17 residents, however, a new wing was opened in 1995 to provide an additional seven bed spaces, taking the total to 24.
The whole family have always been involved in the day to day life of both care homes, and in 2000, their son, David, was appointed Home Manager of St. Martin’s.
Later in the same year, their youngest daughter Lorraine was appointed Staff Nurse after completing a Nursing Degree. Since then, Lorraine has been elevated to the position of Nurse Manager and the two now share the responsibility of running the home.