This October at
Gittisham Hill House care home, in Honiton, Devon, Colleagues and Residents have been getting together to celebrate Harvest Festival and ‘Wear it Pink’ day for breast cancer awareness.
On 5th October, prior to the Harvest supper, Colleague Jill Watts organised a Harvest Festival themed quiz, followed by a banquet with all Residents to enhance their taste buds. The supper was well attended and there were lots of lovely comments about how the home’s dining room was presented and all the cakes that Residents had made with Harvest theme in mind. Various drinks were also available, with some Residents enjoying a tipple of cider!
Residents particularly liked the choices of different food available and the service and presentation. One of the Residents said, “What a wonderful supper. I really enjoyed it.”
Another Resident of the 38-bed residential, nursing and dementia care home, added, “This brings back memories. Beautiful crusty bread, hat a lovely display. It makes your mouth water (and) I love the smell.”
Julia Heneker, Care Home Manager, commented, “Thank you to Jill and our amazing catering team for today. The food was sensational, and it was an enjoyable evening. The presentation and artwork was amazing. The cakes the Residents made tasted lovely.”
Following on, another fantastic celebration was had on 21st October as Residents and Colleagues supported Breast Cancer Awareness Day, with a theme of ‘Wear it Pink’.
Colleagues dressed in pink, and they gave the option for the Residents to choose to wear pink for the day if they wished.
Those involved talked about things that were pink, and Colleagues participated in a pink scavenger hunt around the home. There was a whole array of other activities such as flower arranging with pink flowers, singing pink themed songs such as 'Lilly the Pink' and they even enjoyed a pink afternoon tea trolley from the amazing kitchen team, which included pink cakes. Residents could then choose to wash this down with a pink gin and tonic, or pink pop.
Everyone donated towards the cause for the event, and the totals are still being counted.
Residents enjoyed seeing Colleagues sing and dance about in pink, many commented on the fantastic outfits!
Julia said, “So many Residents connected to this event and really enjoyed everything pink! What a great cause too, well done to the team.”
“Supporting these days is very special to lots of us here as most people have been affected by cancer or know someone (who has had it).”