Two retirements signal the end of resident wardens at sheltered housing complexes in the north.

Stella Moss lived and worked at Cooil ny Marrey in Ramsey for 26 years, while Gerry Wynne looked after the residents of Kerroo Glass for 30 years.

Gerry said: ’We weren’t really wardens, we were the residents’ friends. It’s been such a rewarding job.

’My husband was the caretaker at Kerroo Glass and we took residents on holidays abroad, on cruises, to Spain and Cyprus.

’We had some adventures. We took a mini-bus over to Blackpool once, on a day trip, and it turns out it wasn’t insured to leave the island.’

Stella added: ’We had big parties, fish and chip suppers, bingo. These days, residents are more independent. They’re more likely to have their own car and they don’t want to socialise in the same way.’

Both Stella and Gerry were on hand during the pandemic. Each complex contains 55 separate apartments.

’We were able to chat to residents through the intercom and help with any issues. It’s been such a frightening time for the residents and for their families,’ said Stella.

Gerry had young children when she took on the job.

’It would affect things like going to see them play football,’ she said. ’You can’t go to the pictures because you’re on duty, that sort of thing would affect family life.’

Stella added: ’We’d feel like we were deserting the ship if we weren’t around for the residents. We could be called out any time, day or night. In some ways it was easier to be there.

’You know the residents and you can gauge what’s going on, how serious it might be, or not. Now, when the co-ordinator leaves on Friday they don’t see the residents until Monday.

’The new system is efficient but the personal touch has been lost.

’We think families will miss that extra support. We didn’t provide care as such but we cared about the residents.’

Gerry said: ’The modern generation aren’t afraid to use the emergency cord or the pendants they wear but it’s not the same as somebody popping in to say, how are you?

’We knew the residents so well. We had a wedding.’

’Yes,’ said Stella. ’We’ve had deaths, we’ve had marriages. We’ve never had a birth!’

Gerry said: ’We’ve met some real characters. They told us stories about the war.’

’I remember we had two residents, two ladies, who were the same age but one had been a foundling and the other had been very wealthy. She had maids,’ said Stella.

’Then they were rubbing shoulders with each other. We supported the families as much as the residents. They relied on us to keep them up to date on how mum and dad were. It’s not a job anybody else could understand.’

’We knew them all so well,’ said Gerry.

Stella added: ’We’ve had some funny cases. I was woken up by a couple who had gone into the lounge in the middle of the night, thinking the fire alarm had gone off, and they were all alone. Nobody else turned up. It turned out an alarm clock in their flat had gone off.’

Gerry said: ’I had one lady who used to call me up in the early hours to ask what time it was. I’d tell her the time and that would be that.’

Both Stella and Gerry are looking forward to a well-earned retirement but are also sad to be leaving.

’It does feel like the end of an era,’ said Stella.