HC One’s White Gable care home decided to set to work to create their very own bowling green.
A few months ago, one of the Residents at the Lincoln care home expressed a desire to play lawn bowls. This proved a great challenge as the lawns around the outside of the property are home to a colony of rabbits, which meant that finding a patch flat and smooth enough for bowls was nigh on impossible.
There was however, an enclosed courtyard garden in the middle of the home which had a large raised bed in the middle. Having been there for over two decades, the wooden sleepers were starting to rot and the plants had become root bound and hardly flowered any more.
Wellbeing Coordinator Katherine Trevor decided this would be the perfect time to take on the challenge of creating a bowling green for the Residents to enjoy.
Creating the green was not an easy task. Maintenance operative Kat Fort, set to work with Katherine on demolishing the old bed, lifting an area of slabs and digging down to create a sub-base for an artificial grassed area.
There were several tonnes of soil and rubble to dig out along with 12 enormous railway sleepers and some concrete footings from an old Koi pond, which used to stand on the site over 30 years ago.
It was an extremely hard going task, and then to make matters seem nearly impossible, COVID-19 hit.
Unfortunately Katherine became very unwell and had to isolate at home. It was four weeks until she was able to return to work and another couple of days after that until she was able to physically continue with the project which she was determined to finish.
After filling the hole with hard-core a local builder kindly came to compact it with a machine. Another generous volunteer, Barry Holland (husband of a staff member) helped to fill in the sand, level it off and lay the sizeable and weighty roll of artificial turf.
One of the Residents, Alan, commented “well done, you’ve done a grand job there!”
The green is now finally finished and the Residents will be able to play all sorts of lawn games including bowls, just like they always wanted to.
The Home Manager said “what an absolute Herculean task Katherine set herself. I’m immensely proud of what she and my team have achieved. I know that the Residents are going to love this addition to the activities they already enjoy in the home.”
Unfortunately Resident Eddie who sowed the idea for this during lockdown has now passed away. The home was devastated and will always think of him when playing and relax on the lawn. Rest in peace Eddie, White Gables will always remember you.