Mrs. Powell, Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen.
It has taken me some time to arrive at Springview because I promised to come a little earlier, but as you will understand, my life is rather busy and sometimes we have to cancel one or two engagements. So at last we have arrived and as so often happens when I come to open something, I find the best way to do it is when it has already been open and working for quite some time and has proved that everything works extremely well.
As I came along the road I didn't know quite what to expect. Then I saw this lovely building, which I think is a great asset as a building to the area. Its lines are gentle, elegant and beautiful and so immediately you have a lovely impression as you come along to see it. Then as I have been round with Mrs. Powell I can see that so many details have been thought of. Almost all details and experiences that you have learned from looking after other people, which makes life here so much easier. I notice very much the importance you have given to colour, both in the sitting rooms and in the dining room. Colour and light and view. I can understand why it is called Springview.
I agree very much with what Mrs. Powell has said. We are all going to live longer and indeed the span of life will change. We shall probably work longer. We shall probably do some part-time work for much longer because the contribution we have to make will be needed more in the society in which we live. But also there will be much more need for houses like this. To me it's a house. You call it a home but to me its a house, consisting of the homes of many many people.
All of us will come to think how are we going to take the worries off our own minds and off the minds of our relatives. By moving out of a house which is far too big for us, which we can't maintain, where there is nobody around to do the spare plumbing job or the electrical job or the carpentry job. We simply must have somewhere to think of going where those worries are taken away from us and it seems to me that a house like this with so many little flatlets is the ideal answer.
What do you need? You need first your own privacy with its own facilities. That I think is vital for everyone. You must have somewhere you can go, be on your own, whether you wish to read, to watch television, or just to think, but privacy is extremely important for us all. Then because we can none of us live alone, you must have somewhere you can go and meet others. Where there is a sitting room and you can go and meet and talk together. Thirdly you really do need some one to look after your daily needs by the way of food and a very nice dining room. Fourthly you need to have access to medical care, as that will take a very great weight off [end p1] your minds. As you also pointed out, we have five things. You must also be near friends and relatives. These things are necessary to continue to have as full a life as possible.
If I might put it this way. We are all members of some family or another. It not only makes life easier for those who live here, it also takes a great deal of worry off the minds of families. Are my parents being properly looked after? When you know they are in a house like this, then it must mean that you are very very happy and can come and visit here very frequently. That you know that everything is all right.
Mrs. Powell, you are in the leadership, you are in the forefront of a movement that will grow. I haven't yet booked my home for about twenty years time, but right now I am quite happy as a matter of fact with the one I've got. I only have it on a lease, but the lease does not so far have a terminal date upon it. But in the end I too shall have to think, as we all shall and then when one day when it comes to my moving into a place like this, I shall think of all of the lessons from which we have been able to profit from those who have carried out the early pioneering in this work and built such a place as this, with a lovely garden a lovely name.
It really therefore does give me enormous pleasure to congratulate you Mrs. Powell, to congratulate all the staff, the medical staff, the architects, the builders, everyone who has thought of almost every detail in putting together this very happy place.
I know that when you launch a ship you say “God bless all who sail in her” . I think when you open a house it should be “God bless all who live in her” . Thank you very much.