Sales Manager Sees Neighbourly Support In Banbury
Linda Stevens, a sales manager for Davidsons Homes, has moved into a new home at its Dukes Meadow development in Banbury, Oxfordshire, and seen first-hand how neighbours have supported each other through the pandemic crisis and lockdown.
Community spirit has blossomed, with homeowners coming together to support each other during lockdown, rallying round their neighbours since the stay at home measures were put in place, picking up prescriptions, shopping for essentials, and keeping in touch through messaging service WhatsApp.
Linda has been helping house-hunters find their dream home at Dukes Meadow since July 2017, getting to know many of her future neighbours on the way and seeing that a close-knit community was forming there. Moving in at the end of March, just before the stay-at-home measures were announced, she believes lockdown has brought the residents even closer together.
She said: “I’m so lucky to have moved into a development full of friendly faces – everyone has been extremely welcoming. Now I have moved in, I have been added to the WhatsApp group chat which has around 70 members. It originally started as a Neighbourhood Watch-type thing but seems to have blossomed into this great device for us to keep in touch as a community.
“We pick up one another’s prescriptions and essential shopping for those who are at a higher risk. We also do food swaps so when someone needed a cup of salt the other day one of my neighbours went and left it on their doorstep.
“It’s such a welcoming community and I’m so grateful to not only have helped these people find their home, but also now be a part of the neighbourhood.”
Linda previously lived in a rented property across the road from Dukes Meadow, and after getting to know the development and its residents she decided it was the perfect place for her to get onto the property ladder.
She said: “Being at the development for so long, I was able to really get to know the product. The design, the style and the build quality are all to a high standard. Also, as a sales advisor you see the people who live at the development every day and you become friends with the people you’ve sold to. That was a big reason for wanting a house on the development – I knew how great the community was.
“Now I am here, I absolutely love it. Everyone is so supportive of one another and we all nod and say hello when we go to clap for the NHS workers on Thursday evenings.”
Linda, who is now sales manager for Davidsons’ Diamond Heights development in Irthlingborough, added: “Right now, we just can’t wait for this all to be over – we’ll likely end up having a big street party when it is.”
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