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Market Lavington care home, in Devizes, Wiltshire, Colleagues always take a keen interest in the life stories of Residents and then, wherever possible, try to organise events for them as a way of reconnecting with their happy memories of the past. Which is exactly what they did for one Resident who was in the scouts for many years.
Resident Christopher Bate (pictured) spent a long time involved in the scouts, first becoming a scout as a little boy, and then becoming a Senior Scout in the early 1960s, before becoming a Scout Leader. His memories of this part of his life remain vivid and he enjoys sharing stories of his scouting escapades.
So, Wellbeing Coordinator, Riaz Ali, contacted the local Market Lavington Scouts and Sian Turner, Beaver Scout leader, responded with the kind offer of visiting with her four children, all of whom are members of different scout groups too.
Christopher still has his camp blanket, which represents experiences in the Guides or Scouts, displaying badges earned or gained during the tradition of swapping badges when visiting other groups. Christopher started his blanket in 1960 and over the following fifteen years or so, he acquired many patches which were lovingly attached to the blanket, and the blanket, he says was actually part of a dressing gown that he bought in 1959!
Sian and her children, Rhiannon, Daniel, Francis and Trystan (all pictured with Christopher), also brought in their blanket to show to Christiopher as a comparison. It seems they have a long way to go until they catch up with Christopher’s!
Christopher also showed the children his diary from 1962, when he was a Scout Leader on a trip to Luxembourg. The diary is absolutely beautiful, with many photographs and other memorabilia carefully attached to the pages, accompanied by Christopher’s incredible handwriting!
It was a lovely afternoon and this is not a one-off visit either as Sian has kindly offered to come back with the Beaver Scouts for an afternoon of card games and board games with Residents too.
Sian commented, “It was amazing to meet Christopher and to see all the county badges on his blanket.”
Rhiannon added, “I enjoyed my first visit to a care home. I have never been in one before. Thank you for letting us come and it was lovely to meet the Residents.”
Christopher Bate said, “It was lovely, I enjoyed seeing their blanket. I had so many adventures when I was young! It’s good to hear of the adventures of the younger scouts now!”