Residents and the care team at New Copford Place, our Colchester-based residential care home, got the festive season off to a sparkling start and had an ‘Noel-tastic’ time at the care home’s Winter Wonderful Community Bazaar and Santa’s Grotto. On Saturday 6th December, New Copford Place was enchantingly changed into a North Pole Christmas Wonderland fit for ‘Red One’ himself, Santa Claus. “New Copford Place looked absolutely magical,” said Kelly Hull, the Deputy Manager at the care home. “We made sure that Santa’s Grotto was up to ‘Elf and Safety’ standards and adorned with lots of sparklingly and twinkling lights and decorations. When Santa saw his Essex domain, he was over the moon, or rather, over the roof tops with joy.”
“We are so glad our letter to Santa and Mrs Claus reached them in good time and that they managed to spare time in their busy December schedule to join us,” continued Chelsey Leather, New Copford Place’s Activities Coordinator. “Mrs Claus told me that the cheeky Elves were quite happy to be left at The North Pole Workshop to carry on with their toy making duties – she was just hoping their didn’t get up to too much mischief whilst they were away. “It was wonderful to welcome over 100 visitors from our local community to our Christmas Extravaganza,” added Joy Clark, New Copford Place’s Office Manager. “Santa was kept very busy all day meeting lots of children and, of course, the residents.” Alongside Santa’s ‘Be-Yule-Tiful’ Grotto, the Christmas Bazaar had a lovely range of gift and present ideas for visitors to browse through and purchase. “There really was something for everyone,” continued Chelsey.
“Amongst the artesian stands, guests visited the Mystery Book Stall, chose Handmade Christmas Cards, tried their luck on the ever popular Tombola plus, for the over 18s, the Wine or Water? Game was a huge success.”
“Another Christmas Game stall which attracted the crowds was the Pull My Cracker Game,” added Kelly. “We had two versions, one for children and another for adults, with prizes suitable for each age group. Prizes included sweet treats and chocolates for the youngsters and £5 and Prosecco for the older generation. “However, The Name The New Copford Place Elf Game, turned up a festive trump. “From a list of 60 Elven names including Peppermint, Jingles, Frosty, Buddy and Sparkles, the winning name wasn’t quite as Christmassy,” continued Joy. “The winning name was Bob, not Sparkles or Twinkle, but Bob – but as one of the residents said to me, ‘That’s still festive as it must be linked to Bob Cratchit from A Christmas Carol’ which then made perfect sense.” After visiting The Big Man himself, Santa, the children wasted no time playing all the other games too – Splat the Snowman, Hook a Bauble, Pluck the Turkey, The Candy Cane Game and dug for gold coins in the Christmas Treasure Chest.
“The ‘Snow-Tastic’ activities didn’t stop there,” added Kelly. “We really ‘Elf-ivated’ the games and had our inaugural Christmas Human Fruit Machine which was great fun with lots of prizes won.” “All the residents thoroughly enjoyed meeting Santa Claus and having a natter with Mrs Claus,” continued Chelsey. “It was the ‘Partridge in a Pear Tree-Perfect’ way to start all our many Christmas activities and was a Wonderful Winter Wonderland treat for everyone, “The residents are now counting down the days until Christmas Day arrives and we hope that everyone who came along to our Community Christmas event had a festive and fun-filled day,” concluded Chelsey.
Find out more about New Copford Place care home by calling 01206 210 397 or emailing [email protected].