Residents at Davenham, Perrins House and Bradbury Court, our residential, nursing and dementia care homes which are collectively known as Friends of the Elderly Malvern, have had a holly, jolly Christmas and New Year, complete with a Christmas Fayre, a Mince Pie Bake-Off, Gingerbread Houses, a pop-up bar and live entertainment.
“Every member of the Friends of the Elderly’s Malvern care team loves – and is dedicated to – making sure that all the residents have a joyful Christmas and New Year,” said Jo Bennett, the General Manager at Friends of the Elderly Malvern. “We all thoroughly enjoyed engaging with the residents in a wide range of yuletide activities. We got involved in so many fun things, everything from Christmas arts and crafts sessions to a mince pie bake-a-thon, to Gingerbread House decorating and even enjoyed a pop up bar with live entertainment thanks to singer, Reba. All the residents had a great festive season.”
Friends of the Elderly Malvern’s Activities Coordinators, Tina Ellenton, Laura Smith and Selena Whittaker, created a Christmas events and activities programme which was tailored to meet each residents’ individual needs, likes and preferences. “To start our festive fun and get the Christmas Spirit in the air, we hosted our community traditional Christmas Bazaar on Saturday 7th December,” continued Tina Ellenton, the Activities Coordinator at Davenham Residential Care Home. “It was a wonderful day and it was great to see the residents chatting with, and enjoying the company of, members of the local community. It was a real Winter Wonderland event.”
To keep the festive Christmas activities skating along, clients from Friends of the Elderly’s Malvern Day Care joined residents at Davenham Care Home and set sail on The Barbarossa to enjoy a high seas, swashbuckling Christmas pantomime performance of the buccaneering Treasure Island. “Everyone had a thigh-slapping, action-packed time at the performance,” added Selena Whittaker, the Activities Coordinator at Perrins House. “The talented cast took us all on a magical journey to find mythical buried treasure. All the residents and clients were captivated by the whole adventurous story.”
“We wanted to do an amusing festive activity and knowing how much the residents love the long running television baking show, we thought it would be a great idea to host our own Christmas Mince Pie Bake-A-Thon,” continued Bradbury Court’s Activities Coordinator, Laura Smith.
Laura, Selena and Tina arranged for the residents to get busy baking their mince pies in an inter-care home competition. “The smell of the pies baking was mouthwatering,” said Jo. “Each pie was delicious and would be deserving of a handshake from the renowned ‘Hollywood’ baker. It was a tough decision, but in the end the Perrins House team was awarded the win as their pies were absolutely delicious.”
Alongside the traditional Christmas goings-on such as Christmas Carols, a Christmas Party and wonderful Christmas lunch with all the trimmings, other activities the residents got involved with included an afternoon decorating Gingerbread Houses, becoming ‘Chocolate Mixologists’ and creating their own unique hot chocolate concoctions and enjoying tipples from their very own pop-up bar whilst listening to a performance by singer, Reba.
“All the residents had a jolly holly Christmas and now that we are into the New Year, everyone is looking forward to the year ahead and all the exciting things we have planned,” concluded Jo.
Find out more about Friends of the Elderly Malvern and Malvern Day Care by calling 01905 388 720 or emailing enquiries@fote.org.uk.