As we all navigate carefully towards the further easing of restrictions and changes to the visiting guidance in care homes on Monday 31 January, our vital care for veterans and their partners continues. We remain committed to ensuring that the risk of any infection within our Homes is minimised and we are meeting, or exceeding, all national guidance. Throughout the challenges of the last two years, our staff have shown extraordinary courage and skill in their work.

We are already enabling safe visiting and we have both Essential Care Givers and Designated Visitors in place for our residents. When not in outbreak, visiting can take place inside our Homes in a residents own room. Alongside this our purpose built Covid-secure meeting rooms are also available for people who feel safer using them.

Our current visiting procedure includes the use of lateral flow tests, face maks, hand washing and temperature checks on arrival. This practice will continue in the coming weeks as we start to welcome more visitors into our Homes.

We remain committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our residents. To this end, we have ensured that all residents have received the full doses of their vaccinations and 100% of our frontline staff have now received both of theirs. We remain committed to the fundamentals of infection control principles and are consistently reinforcing the importance of hand hygiene, correct use of PPE and social distancing.

We would like to thank our partners, funders, suppliers and members of the local communities around each of our Homes who have supported us throughout the pandemic. We are truly grateful to you all.