At our Haslemere-based residential care home, Redcot, the residents embraced their inner James Bond and Miss Moneypenny alter egos and enjoyed a spectacular Casino Night, complete with Black Jack and Roulette Games. Talking about the stylish Bond-esque night, Latasha Jarrett, the Care Home Manager at Redcot said: “The residents love all our themed events and enjoy all our meaningful activities. We were chatting about spy films and novels during one of our regular reminiscing sessions and Casino Royale came up. From there, the idea of hosting our very own Casino Redcot took shape.”
To get the evening underway, the residents were all given Redcot Pounds so they could place their bets. “Before working at Redcot, I used to run my own mobile, fun casino company,” said Lucy Frisby, the care home’s Office Manager. “It was lovely to be able to teach the residents the rules of Roulette and Black Jack, or 21 as it’s also known and it was great fun being back spinning the wheel again too. The residents were exceptionally good at the casino games and had a thoroughly ‘casino-tastic’ time.” Janet Daniels, who has been a resident at Redcot since December 2021, loved playing the Roulette table. “I decided that my lucky colour was Black, which stood me well, as I won four times.”
The Redcot Care Team dressed for the occasion, taking on the roles of Croupiers and Dealers at the tables, and Casino Hosts who made sure all the residents were served drinks and canapes and kept the party going throughout the evening. “Roulette was definitely the game of choice,” continued Latasha. “The residents said that it reminded them of the film ‘Diamonds Are Forever, where James Bond plays ‘The Game of Chance’ in Las Vegas.”
“It was great fun,” said 100-year-old resident, Joyce Douglas. “Just call me ‘Tiffany Case’ like Bond’s cohort. It was such fun being able to ‘flash the cash’ after I won at cards. I was, even if I do say so myself, rather good at Black Jack and gave my care home friends a run for the money.” Throughout the Casino Redcot night, the residents’ winnings were tallied and the overall winner of the evening was Ruth Dickson. “I’m absolutely delighted to be the overall winner – I really didn’t expect to win at all. I’d never played Roulette or Black Jack before, perhaps I’m just a natural?,” said a smiling Ruth. For being crowned the winner of Casino Redcot, Ruth won an afternoon tea outing with one of Redcot’s Activities Coordinators, Jenny Ryder, at a venue of her choice. “I’m looking forward to my afternoon tea trip. I haven’t decided where to go yet, but I know wherever we go, I’ll have a lovely time with Jenny,” added Ruth.
“The Casino Redcot Night was the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time with our residents and I can’t thank Jenny and Lucy enough for the brilliant job of organising the evening. It was full of laughter, friendly competition – and a little bit of luck too. It really was great to see everyone having such a fantastic time,” concluded Latasha.
Find out more about Redcot care home by calling 01428 644 637 or emailing enquiries@fote.org.uk.