It was on the wettest day we have had for several weeks that I accepted an invitation to visit some of the properties owned and managed by the Sussex Housing and Care organisation.

I have to say that until I was invited to be the guest speaker at their forthcoming annual meeting I had never heard of them, in spite of having been a Brighton Borough councillor for a number of years.

In my defence let me say that they are more prominent in the east of the county than in Brighton, where there are two establishments.

It may have been the wettest most miserable day outside, but the sun was definitely shining in the homes I saw.

At a time when the older members of society seem to be permanently under pressure, both financial and from the ills which seem to be part of growing older, it was a great pleasure to visit an organisation which, from what I saw of it, put the comfort and wellbeing of their residents first.

There were no blank-eyed groups of residents sitting in front of a TV, nodding off from boredom and lack of stimulus. In fact there seemed to be very few folk sitting about at all in spite of the weather. Those who were not out braving the elements seemed to be doing something.

I spent some time in Crowborough in the latest state-of-the-art building which was an outstanding example of what can be achieved with first-class planning and consideration for the needs of the elderly rather than an exercise in spending as little as you can get away with.

The building was light and airy with colour co-ordinated rooms.

From the doors to the table linen, the colours made it easy for residents to know where they were in the building.

The bedrooms all had en-suite facilities and the residents were free to bring pieces of their own furniture with them to help them feel at home.

There was provision for hairdressing, chiropody and other services. Power points were provided for charging electric wheelchairs, and it seemed that every need had been catered for to make life as happy and comfortable as possible for those who were in the twilight of their lives.

It must be said that there were a number of folk for whom the word 'twilight' had no meaning! A gentleman of 86 was the star of the computer room, passing on his knowledge (acquired as recently as 2000) to those who wished to stay in touch with friends and relatives. His wife is complaining that she has to contact him by email!

There is so much going on that there is no room to describe it all and it must be said again that this is the star ship of the fleet.

Other houses have been taken on board and developed as well as they possibly can be but, being older, have been more difficult to bring up to the standards of the Crowborough development at Woodlands.

There is also sheltered accommodation and leasehold accommodation on the same site, with the possibility of moving into care if the need arises as the residents become older and more frail.

In the older homes every effort has been made to foster the same feeling of a home from home and there was no suggestion of being institutionalised.

I came away feeling that there were people out there who DO care what happens to the older and less able among us and are prepared to do something to help.

There is no Government funding and a lot of fund-raising has to be undertaken to raise money to keep the high standards.

Sussex Housing and Care certainly sets a high standard for the care of the elderly and I'm looking forward to meeting some of the residents at the annual meeting.