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A gift Subscription is the perfect present that lasts all year round! 4 great reasons to subscribe... 3 Each issue is brimming with a diverse topic range... • Heritage • Fashion • Hair & Beauty • Leisure • Homes & Gardens • County Motoring • Dining Out • What’s On • Free Reader Giveaways and much much more… 3 First 3 issues only £1! 3 FREE delivery to your door 3 Receive your copy before it hits the shops First 3 issues for £1LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY 51 CARING M ore older people are choosing to stay in their own homes rather than move into residential care, part of a growing movement known as “ageing in place.” It’s not just about comfort or familiarity. For many, it’s a matter of dignity, the wish to remain surrounded by memories, neighbours, and a sense of control. Yet behind that simple desire lies a complex balancing act between independence and safety, one that is forcing families, communities, and policymakers to rethink what care really means. The UK’s population is ageing faster than its infrastructure can keep up. By the mid- 2030s, one in four Britons will be over 65, and more than half of those people will live with at least one long-term health condition. That demographic shift is reshaping how we think about home life. Once, ageing meant retreating into care facilities, but rising costs and limited spaces have made that path less accessible. Instead, a new vision is taking root, one where support is brought to the person rather than the person being moved to the support. Across Britain, older people are reimagining what it means to age with dignity. The choice to remain at home brings freedom and comfort, but also new questions about safety, connection, and care.52 Á © stock.adobe.com/pikselstock When growing old means staying home 52 LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY CARING For many, independence is the line that defines identity. The ability to make a cup of tea in your own kitchen, open your front door, or tend to your garden carries an emotional weight that few policies can measure. Yet those same small freedoms can come with risk. Falls in the home remain a leading cause of injury among older adults, and loneliness is now recognised by health officials as a serious threat to wellbeing. What was once a private decision is increasingly a shared concern between families, social services, and local councils. Technology has become an unlikely bridge between autonomy and safety. Discreet sensors can now monitor movement, light levels, or sudden changes in daily routines. Smart speakers double as emergency call systems. Some homes have been quietly upgraded with fall-detection flooring, which alerts carers if someone collapses. For families who live far away, this digital safety net provides reassurance. Yet there’s still hesitation among many older people who view these systems as intrusive or complicated. Independence, after all, is not just about physical ability but about feeling trusted and respected. Housing design is another piece of the puzzle. The average British home was built decades ago, long before today’s accessibility standards. Narrow doorways, steep stairs, and uneven floors turn once- loved homes into obstacle courses. Local authorities now offer adaptation grants but demand often outstrips supply. In many cases, small interventions make the biggest difference: better lighting, lever taps, or lower kitchen counters that restore everyday confidence. Beyond the bricks and fittings lies a deeper question of connection. Ageing in place works best when people don’t have to do it entirely alone. Community care networks, volunteer drivers, and befriending schemes have become the social glue that holds the model together. Councils are experimenting with neighbourhood-based care hubs: teams of carers and nurses assigned to local areas, reducing travel time and building personal relationships with residents. It’s a return to a kind of localism that once defined British life, where care was not outsourced but shared. But the challenges are real. Recruiting enough home carers remains one of the biggest hurdles. The work is demanding and often underpaid, leading to high turnover and patchy availability across regions. Families frequently find © stock.adobe.com/peopleimages.com themselves acting as both advocates and coordinators, navigating fragmented systems of social care, health services, and private providers. When formal support falters, unpaid relatives often step in, stretching their own finances and wellbeing in the process. The financial strain is undeniable. Retrofitting a home for safe ageing can cost thousands, and private care visits quickly add up. For pensioners on fixed incomes, the arithmetic rarely works. The government’s delayed reforms to the adult social care cap have left many in limbo, uncertain of what help they’ll receive or how much they’ll need to pay. Charities warn that without sustained investment, the dream of independent ageing risks becoming a privilege of the middle class. Still, there’s a quiet resilience among those making it work. Across Britain, older adults are redesigning what independence looks like. Some share homes with friends or family, pooling resources while maintaining privacy. Others move into co-housing © stock.adobe.com/Pansitdevelopments that blend private flats with shared spaces for meals and activities. A few councils are exploring intergenerational living models, pairing older residents with younger tenants who offer companionship in exchange for affordable rent. Each solution challenges the outdated notion that ageing is a decline, instead, it’s becoming a phase of adaptation and reinvention. As Britain’s population continues to grey, the homes we live in will tell a larger story about who we are and how we value one another. The balancing act between independence and safety will never be simple, but it offers a vision of ageing rooted not in fear of decline but in the pursuit of dignity. Growing old in place, it seems, is not just about where we live. It’s about how we choose to live, and how the rest of society chooses to care. LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY 53 CARING Eccleshare Court Care & Nursing Home Eccleshare Court Care & Nursing Home provides the highest standards of family- led nursing, residential and specialist dementia care. Our home is comfortable and beautifully furnished, whilst retaining a warm family atmosphere that makes Eccleshare Court feel extra special. Enquire today 01522 695 458 Ashby Avenue, Lincoln, LN6 0ED www.countrycourtcare.com54 LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY FAMILY BUSINESS The next in line LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY 55 FAMILY BUSINESS © stock.adobe.com/ อภิสาร เจนชัย T here’s something reassuring about a family business. The name above the door often tells a story of hard graft, big risks, and Sunday dinners spent talking about customers instead of holidays. Across Britain, these firms have weathered recessions, booms, and everything in between, stitched into the fabric of their towns and high streets. But as the years roll on, many are facing one of their biggest challenges: how to hand over the reins without losing what made them special in the first place. For founders, succession can feel like walking a tightrope. On one side is the pride of seeing what they built carry on, on the other, the fear of letting go. The next generation, meanwhile, often faces its own quiet doubts: how do you step into your parents’ shoes without stepping on their toes? It’s a moment that blends From shop counters to boardrooms, Britain’s family businesses are rethinking what it means to pass something on, and what’s worth holding onto. 56 Á56 LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY FAMILY BUSINESS business with emotion, legacy with change, and the result can be both inspiring and messy. Younger successors are coming in with different skills and expectations. Many have worked elsewhere before joining the family firm, bringing new ideas about technology, sustainability, and what leadership should look like. Where their parents might have relied on gut instinct and long- standing relationships, they tend to lean on data, brand identity, and digital reach. The trick is keeping the heart of the business intact while modernising its rhythm. It’s rarely smooth. Families argue. Timings clash. Some founders hold on a little too long, others hand over before the next generation is ready. The practical side: taxes, ownership, legal frameworks can be daunting enough, but the emotional side often hits harder. For many, the business isn’t just a job but a legacy, a shared identity. Deciding who takes over can feel like deciding the future of the family itself. That’s why experts often say succession should be seen as a process, not a moment. The best transitions happen gradually. When younger family members are trusted to lead projects, make decisions, and sometimes fail safely. It’s how they build their own version of the business rather than simply inheriting someone else’s. The pandemic made this all more urgent. Some family firms had to adapt almost overnight, forcing new generations Your Ifor Williams Trailer Distributor Trailers from small domestic to 3500kg gross Sales • Repairs • Servicing • Spares Sole Distributors in Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Pickup canopies also available You are welcome to view our stock of Trailers Te: 01526 860317 W: www.scott-trailers.co.uk E: office@scott-trailers.co.uk Opening hours: Mon to Fri 8am-5pm Sat 9am-12 noon Horsebox Commercial Livestock Unbraked Wishing our customers old and new a Merry ChristmasLINCOLNSHIRE TODAY 57 FAMILY BUSINESS Gates, Fencing, Garage Doors, Auto Gate Systems, Sawmill, Structures, Hardwood, Softwood, Treated Softwood, Decking, Cabins, Garden Furniture, Aged Oak, Building Timber, Sheet Materials, Tools & Firewood. B Knight & Son Ltd Timber Merchants & Manufacturers t: 01522 754207 • e: sales@b-knightandson.co.uk www.b-knightandson.co.uk 30 Main Road, Langworth, Lincoln, LN3 5BJ Christmas Joy B Knight & Son Ltd, Lincoln B Knight & Son Ltd would like to wish their long standing loyal and new customers a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year! B Knight & Son Ltd have a long tradition of providing quality timber products, offering professional services for over 150 Christmases! Passed through the generations, always in the same family, reputation, decades of experience and a high standard of craftsmanship help maintain a loyal customer base. Supplying domestic and commercial fencing, handmade gates, bespoke structures, garage doors, treated timbers and suppliers of hard and softwoods plus many more timber items and woodworking supplies. Located in Langworth on the A158 between Lincoln and Wragby, open to the public and trade, assisting with timber related queries and with anything timber considered for manufacture by the skilled on-site team, offering advice from design to fitting the finished product. Visit www.b-knightandson.co.uk or Facebook. into leadership sooner than expected. Many learned fast, blending tradition with digital transformation, and proving that family businesses aren’t stuck in the past, they’re just anchored to something real. The advantage of having skin in the game, literally, is that decisions come from a place of care rather than quarterly reports. That long-term view is what sets family enterprises apart. They tend to think in decades, not financial years. But the younger generation is also redefining what “legacy” means. It’s not just about survival or profit anymore, it’s about relevance, being part of a world that values ethics, community, and sustainability. The goal is to grow without losing sight of where it all began. If there’s a common thread running through every successful handover, it’s this: respect for the past and curiosity for the future. Family businesses that endure do so because they keep that balance: a conversation between generations, not a tug of war. The baton changes hands, but the heartbeat stays the same. And maybe that’s the quiet magic of these enterprises. They remind us that business is really about belonging. When a family name sits above a shop, a workshop, or a warehouse, it stands for more than a brand. It stands for the people who built it, the ones who’ll carry it forward, and the promise that what matters most won’t get lost along the way. © stock.adobe.com/Daniel L/peopleimages.com58 LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY COUNTY MOTORING Electrifying vehicles for executive adventures LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY 59 COUNTY MOTORING BYD Sealion 7 BYD’s Sealion 7 is an electric executive SUV that seats five. It is competitively priced at £46,990 for the Comfort rear-wheel drive (RWD), £51,990 for the Design all-wheel drive (AWD), and £58,990 for the Excellence AWD models. Performance-wise, the AWD edition accelerates from 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds, reaching 133mph on 20-inch wheels. The RWD Comfort version lags behind slightly, achieving the same sprint in 6.7 seconds. The Sealion 7 offers two battery options: an 82.5 kWh unit that provides an electric range of up to 300 miles in the Comfort trim and 283 miles in the Design trim; or a robust 91.3 kWh battery in the Excellence model, which boasts a maximum range of 312 miles. This SUV features a flat rear floor, providing additional legroom. The Excellence model’s cabin includes sound and heat insulation, double-layered laminated glass, Nappa leather seating, and a panoramic sunroof. The boot space measures 520 litres, and expands to 1,789 litres with the rear seats down. The infotainment system features a 15.6-inch display that supports both portrait and landscape modes, with a 3D user interface for seamless navigation. The adventurously named Sealion 7 stands as a strong competitor against executive rivals like Tesla’s Model Y. Next >