Avon Court Care Home in Rowden Hill, Chippenham, was visited on Friday 1st July by Chippenham’s MP Michelle Donelan, Minister of State for Higher and Further Education and Liz Alstrom, Mayor, Councillor for Chippenham Hardens & Central, as the home welcomed visitors and guests from the local community to the home to participate in this year’s Care Home Open Week celebrations from 27th June to 3rd July 2022.
The 56-bed friendly care home, which offers residential, nursing and nursing dementia care, which is owned by HC-One, was delighted to open its doors to celebrate Care Home Open Week with Residents, Colleagues, friends, family, and the wider community.
Care Home Open Week is a national event hosted by Championing Social Care, designed to connect care homes with their local communities. This year, homes across the UK enjoyed being able to celebrate with communities in person again, having marked the annual event virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Residents and Colleagues of the HC-One owned home enjoyed meeting MP Michelle Donelan and Mayor Liz Alstrom and chatting to them about what life is like at Avon Court – which is an integral part of the local Chippenham community.
Avon Court’s chosen theme for this year’s Care Home Open Week was ‘Summer Celebration’. Throughout the week, Residents, Colleagues, families and friends enjoyed a variety of fun-filled activities which were enjoyed by all, including some craft stalls that Colleagues set up to show off some of the Residents arts and craftwork.
Wellbeing Coordinator Lyn Neate also arranged for some entertainment including singers Sian and Rob, who had everyone clapping along and dancing to some upbeat tunes.
Vera Benney, who is a Resident at the home, presented both MP Michelle Donelan and Mayor Liz Alstrom with a bunch of flowers and chocolates as a ‘thank you’ for visiting the home on such a special day.
The special guests enjoyed learning from Colleagues in the home about what a rewarding career in care looks like and finding out about opportunities for community engagement and volunteering roles to support their local care community.
Mela James, Home Manager at Avon Court Care Home, said:
“We were delighted to welcome MP Michelle Donelan and Mayor Liz Alstrom to our home and open the doors of Avon Court again to welcome in our local community and bring everyone together to celebrate Care Home Open Week 2022. Everyone had an amazing time.
“We are proud to support Chippenham, and our Open Week celebrations provided a great opportunity to reconnect with our local community after the challenges of the pandemic, to support community engagement, and to remind our local community that our kind care teams are here if they ever need support for themselves or a loved one.”
Chippenham’s MP Michelle Donelan, Minister of State for Higher and Further Education:
“I marked this year’s Care Home Open Week by joining Avon Court in Chippenham for their summer celebration of afternoon tea and singing! It was a bit chilly so had to be moved inside but that didn’t dampen the sing along. It was lovely to chat to the residents and see the changes they have made since I was last there. I was very grateful for being given a bunch of flowers and a box of chocolates; it was very typical of the kind nature of the staff at Avon Court.”