We have enjoyed a magical Christmas at Abberton and a huge thank you to our team, who always go the extra mile to make Christmas special for residents.
This year, it was all about making Christmas wishes come true. Our lovely gents, have spent many moments discussing football over a pint at our Abberton Arms pub afternoons. You can imagine their delight when the Colchester Under 21s Football team, dropped by to chat about the beautiful game. And then, they showed residents their skills, with a kick about on our huge front lawn, which made a perfect training ground. Thank you so much to the team. You can watch the video here: Abberton V Colchester U21s
Thank you to John Graney, who answered our call when we said that Doris loved motorbikes. He popped by to visit her on his bike and it made her day!
We also had a surprise delivery from the FANS network who kindly dropped gifts for all our residents, which have been donated by the community shoppers at Tesco. Everyone was over the moon with their surprise gifts.
Other Christmas events
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the excited chatter of children, sharing their own Christmas wishes. It was lovely to have some visits from the Langenhoe Primary children. They made festive paper chains with our residents and nattered about their own Christmas plans. On another occasion we played fun games with noodle balloons and the tin can alley and sang along to lots of Christmas hits.
We enjoyed a huge variety of live music, including from the Colchester Brass Band and the U3A Choir, and our very own Mrs Claus, Tracey. There was carol singing at our Advent Service with Reverend Terry Walker and Christmas crooners with singer Alex Southgate.
Gunni from Kiddledivey put us through our paces with a seated exercise routine on Christmas Jumper Day. Lots of festive fun and bell ringing.
We also had a moment of nostalgia making Dolly Peg Angels with Liana Bridges Art Therapy. Many came to the lounge for this event and for those who weren't able to, we went to rooms. Everybody joined in and reminisced about when they used the Pegs at home on their washing lines. One resident commented about how they used to tie up their hair with pipe cleaners. Not only was everyone left with a beautiful Peg Fairy, but they were reminded of the years before.
So, what is in store for 2026.
We are starting our Garden Project, to spruce up both our Memorial Garden and Secret Garden. The Memorial Garden has more formal flower beds and a central statue. It is a beautiful place for quiet contemplation and reflection. The Secret Garden is enchanting, and being walled, it is sheltered and warm, perfect for all the fruit trees.
Our wish is to restore these gardens to their former glory. We have some green-fingered residents who would love the opportunity to get planting, so we hope to create some raised beds, to make gardening accessible again. We also raised over £1000 in 2025 in order to build a spacious outside covered pergola, so residents and their families can enjoy the garden.
Do you have a New Years resolution to give back to your local community? We are looking for volunteers who could give up their time between 11am and 2pm, one or two mornings a week. You would be working in the garden alongside our maintenance man Paul, pruning, weeding and planting. We would have a meet and greet at the start of each session with tea and coffee and would provide a light sandwich lunch. Please do give us a call if you could help 01206 735590. We would love to hear from you.
