This summer we have had a theme of butterflies. One of our residents was a keen Lepidopterist (someone who studies butterflies). Her family kindly transferred her old videos onto DVD so we could watch the huge variety that she had filmed. The weather this summer did not lend itself well to our butterfly count, despite our beautiful wildflower planting. Not to be discouraged we decided to hatch our own butterflies, using a Butterfly Garden Kit. Very exciting for residents to watch the caterpillars’ metamorphosis into Painted Ladies and then set them free in our garden.
Our summer theme of butterflies
Carlie from Herefordshire Growing Point came to help us create decorative feeding points for butterflies. Residents enjoyed getting involved. They also made sun catchers and sun prints. Carlie visited again with her little helper to help residents make paper flowers as decorations for our summer party.
Residents got stuck into baking for our Summer Party – butterfly cakes of course! Thank you to friends and family who came and for all our lovely staff support making it a successful event. Also our kitchen team who worked tirelessly and Rachel, our Lifestyle and Wellbeing Lead, who orchestrated the day.
We had very generous raffle donations; The Ludlow Beauty Centre, Parry’s Fruit and Veg, Penny’s Flower Farm and Morrisons Leominster. Thank you to everyone who bought tickets. We raised over £300 which is going towards our new garden furniture.
We spent a lovely relaxing time with Olivia from Creative Minds Herefordshire painting butterflies. Their collective noun is a Kaleidoscope, which we think summed up our artworks perfectly! We also did a collaborative art work piece. We didn’t know what the end picture was until the residents stuck them all together! It was an interesting technique they had not seen before and so really enjoyed the process.
Our brilliant residents
Most Visitors to West Eaton will have met our resident Brenda and seen the care she shows the other residents. Brenda used to work for SCOPE organising outings and supporting people with disabilities to live independently. In recognition of her generous spirit, we have appointed her our Companion Champion. She was delighted to be presented with her badge and flowers.
Carmel is one of our newer residents. He spent most of his life working on luxury cruise ships and the QE2. He has met lots of interesting people and visited destinations far and wide. For his birthday, to his amazement, our kitchen team made him a 3D cruise ship cake. Our singer that day Sylvia also dedicated a beautiful aria to him – everyone got rather emotional!
Eleanor is our most senior resident and she recently celebrated her 105th Birthday! She is a very gentile, elegant lady who thanks us daily for her care. She was touched to receive so many cards and of course, there was one from King Charles.
Our residents have led interesting lives and David Gladwin is no exception. He has written many books about steam engines, trams, buses and canals. He is delighted that Age UK Herefordshire & Worcestershire have paired him with Volunteer Ian Campbell-Laing who is also an accomplished writer. They enjoy swapping authors tips over coffee and biscuits.
Do you have a spare hour? If you would like to get to know our residents we would love to hear from you!