The care team and residents at Little Bramingham Farm, had a ‘Sir-iously’ fun day celebrating this year’s St. George’s Day in true Dragon Slaying fashion. “At Little Bramingham Farm, we mark each of the Patron Saints’ Days,” said Emma Lawrance, the Registered Manager at the care home. “The residents all enjoy History and historic tales, so we thought we’d pull out all the ‘Lances’ this year and put on an epic Medieval St. George’s day event for them.”
“To get everyone in the ‘Knight’ mood, we started the celebrations with a Jousting Competition in the care home’s grounds,” added Karen Charity, Little Bramingham Farm’s Activities Coordinator. “Jim Wright, our Chef dressed as St. George himself, and our Regional Director, James Batchelor and the care home’s Maintenance Manager, Dennis O’Leary, took on the roles of Knights in shining armour, jousting each other whilst riding Dragons for the hand of Fair Princess Emma – with Knight Batchelor being victorious. It was an absolutely wonderful spectacular.”
Three new Knights were up next on the St. George’s Day Jousting Scroll. Nicky Overton, Little Bramingham Farm’s Hairdresser and Jess Spriddle, the care home’s Beautician battled it out on the Course. “The residents took their roles as Spectators seriously and cheered for their favourite Knight to win, they had a great time,” continued Emma.
“A number of the residents also took part in the Jousting, and everyone had a go at games of Seated Axe Throwing using lightweight, soft sticking axes. They also enjoyed a Medieval feast of delicious sirloin of beef served with mini roast potatoes, homemade Yorkshire Puddings, fresh vegetables, followed by the popular English pudding, Rhubarb and Apple Crumble.”
“Given the residents love of history and historic trivia, I always like to do a bit of research before our activities and tell them some interesting and fun facts about what we are doing or seeing, and for our St. George’s Day celebrations, I think they were quite impressed with my ‘Knight-ley’ knowledge,” added Karen.
“We also had to delve into the story of St. George and the Dragon, as we knew the residents would definitely ask us questions,” added Emma. “We didn’t disappoint and discovered that the legend tells the tale of how St. George rode into Silene, which is now the modern-day Libya, to free the city from a Dragon which had a strong penchant for humans.
“However, this story post-dates the real George by several centuries and it’s believed that the tale may simply be the representation of the battle between good and evil – but the residents still had a ‘Un-dragon-believable’ time and enjoyed every minute of the event.
“With Little Bramingham Farm decorated suitable for Medieval Times, the residents were transported back in time. The Jousting, Knights, Dragons, Seated Soft Axe Throwing and tasty, authentic St. George’s Day refreshments – alongside atmospheric background music to set the scene – the event was a huge success which the residents thoroughly enjoyed and are still chatting about. The annual Little Bramingham Farm Jousting Competition will definitely now be a firm fixture on our wide and varied activities calendar,” concluded Emma.
Find out more about Little Bramingham Farm care home by calling 01582 582 433 or emailing [email protected].