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Korean fact-finders put Avonpark Village on the international map

4th November 2011 Print
Joon Huh, Jon Gooding and Hongmin Park

Avonpark Village, the private retirement village near Bath, has received international recognition after a delegation visited from Korea.

Hongmin Park and Joon Huh, from Seoul’s first dedicated retirement research centre at the Samsung Life Insurance Company, travelled to the UK on a fact finding mission and to build relationships with organisations serving older people.

Having discovered Avonpark Village on the internet the pair set aside time in their schedule to pay a visit. They were welcomed by Jon Gooding, the Chief Executive of Retirement Villages Ltd, the company which owns Avonpark Village, in Winsley Hill.

“We were delighted that Mr Park and Mr Huh were able to visit Avonpark Village,” said Jon. “Retirement communities are still in their infancy in South Korea. As the company which introduced such communities into the UK we were perfectly placed to explain how the concept has matured in the 30 years since then.”

The visitors were given a tour of the village, which has nursing, care and dementia homes as well as privately owned houses and apartments, following an afternoon presentation by Jon entitled ‘The Making of a Retirement Village’.

“Mr Park and Mr Huh seemed very impressed with what a retirement village can offer,” said Jon. “The type of communities we build can work anywhere in the world. We would love to see people in Korea offered the same lifestyle choices our residents enjoy.”

Retirement Villages Ltd has been developing and managing bespoke lifestyle and care villages for the over 55s for 30 years. The pioneers of the UK model, the company now has approaching 2,000 residents living in 13 locations spread across 10 counties in the south of the country. For more information, visit retirementvillages.co.uk.

More Photos - Click to Enlarge

Joon Huh, Jon Gooding and Hongmin Park