Wokingham’s Mayor Breaks Ground at Evendon View

Boutique Care Homes has officially broken ground on Evendon View, its new 64-bedroom care home in Wokingham, marking the beginning of a development designed to bring exceptional care, meaningful community connection and around 100 new jobs to the local area.

The Mayor of Wokingham, Councillor Alwyn Jones, joined the Boutique Care Homes team at the site off Evendons Lane, where he donned a hard hat and hi-vis jacket before taking up a ceremonial spade to mark the start of construction.

He was accompanied by his mayoral attendant, David Dunham, Louise Timlin Councillor for Evendons Ward and local resident Barbara Stagles. Together, they toured the site, reviewed plans and heard how the landscape will be transformed over the coming months into a carefully considered home where residents can continue living with confidence, independence and purpose.

Evendon View will offer Residential Care, Boutique Care Homes’ specialist Nostalgia Care for people living with dementia, and Short Stays.

At the heart of the home will be welcoming spaces designed for everyday living and connection, including a bistro, lifestyle suites with kitchenettes, a hair and beauty salon and a dedicated hobby room. Landscaped gardens will provide generous opportunities to spend time outdoors, complemented by a nature paddock and wildlife orchard featuring around a dozen apple trees.

Councillor Jones said the visit had been a memorable addition to his Mayoral year. “Whilst attending a building site has been one of the highlights of my Mayoral year, I must commend your team on their passion and enthusiasm in explaining how a muddy area will be transformed into a luxury care home with outdoor areas where residents can enjoy the benefits of nature.” He continued, “you have thought about how you would wish to enrich the lives of the people who walk through your doors. The finished product will be a great asset to the residents of Wokingham and I look forward to receiving updates as the project continues.”

For Barbara Stagles, the visit offered an opportunity to see how the development intends to become part of the wider neighbourhood, rather than simply sit within it.

“It was a pleasure to meet you yesterday and I was very impressed with the enthusiasm and interest all the members of your team showed about the project,” she said.

“I was particularly taken with your plans for a wildlife orchard, which would be great not just for your residents but also the nearby community. I wish you well.”

Designed around the people who will call it home

For Boutique Care Homes, the development of Evendon View begins with the same principle that shapes every home within the group: the building should support the lives of the people within it.

Tom Duck, Development Director at Boutique Care Homes, said seeing construction begin represented an important moment for the project.

“Every home we design starts with the same question: how do we help someone live with confidence and independence, on their own terms? Seeing that thinking begin to take shape on the ground, with the Mayor standing there asking exactly the right questions about how residents will actually live in this space, is a genuinely proud moment for our team.”

The home has been designed to balance practical care requirements with Boutique Care Homes’ philosophy of understated elegance, creating comfortable, welcoming surroundings that feel considered without feeling institutional.

The gardens and nature areas will play an equally important role, providing spaces for residents to walk, sit, garden, enjoy the changing seasons and spend time with visiting family and friends.

Creating opportunities for the wider Wokingham community

Once fully operational, Evendon View is expected to create around 100 local roles across care, catering, housekeeping, lifestyle and other areas of the home.

Boutique Care Homes also intends for Evendon View to become an active part of community life in Wokingham.

Plans include welcoming local organisations to use spaces within the home for meetings and activities, as well as building relationships with schools and young people through visits and intergenerational experiences.

This approach is already established across Boutique Care Homes’ existing communities, where residents regularly build meaningful connections with schools, local groups, charities and community organisations.

Ameet Kotecha, Founder and Managing Director of Boutique Care Homes, said the groundbreaking represented a milestone not only for the business, but for the community the home will serve.

“Wokingham is going to get a care home built for the way people actually want to live in later life: close to family, surrounded by nature and never far from the things that matter to them. This is what Boutique Care Homes exists to do: bring genuinely excellent care to more families, one home and one community at a time.”

Evendon View is expected to welcome its first residents in early 2028. It will become the seventh home in the Boutique Care Homes family, continuing the group’s commitment to creating intimate communities where personalised care and genuine human connection sit at the heart of everyday life.

Boutique Care Homes has been recognised as one of the UK’s leading small care providers, including winning Care Home Group of the Year (Small) at the National Care Awards in 2023 and 2025.

Across every stage of Evendon View’s journey, from the first turn of earth to the day its first residents arrive, the ambition remains the same: to create a warm and loving family where everyone feels at home, and to deliver care so good, it’s unexpected.

To discover more about Evendon View or Boutique Care Homes, please visit www.boutiquecarehomes.co.uk.