Arty Kingston care home residents win national competition and raise £500 for the NHS

Home news

May 28, 2020

Residents at Sherwood Grange in Kingston Vale have been getting arty for two great causes - winning a VE Day art competition run by SSAFA, the Armed Forces Charity in partnership Fujitsu, and creating four paintings for a charity auction to help raise money for the NHS.

Having spotted the art competition asking for works inspired by VE Day for the 75^th anniversary, residents jumped at the chance to take part. With the group’s entry created by residents aged between 81 – 100 years’ old, it was also a great opportunity for reminiscence as well as to get creative.

One artist, Phyllis Mote, said, “My dad was an RSM – Regimental Sergeant Major - and all the younger officers relied on him, they looked up to him. I think he was a very good soldier”.

The artwork, which included newspaper cuttings from 1945, beat entries from all over the UK to scoop the top prize.

Rick Mayne, Home Manager said, ‘We’re keen to help residents continue to live active and fulfilling lives and creating art is one of our favourite activities here. We find it extremely beneficial for older people as it promotes positive social interaction, improves wellbeing, and provides an opportunity for sensory stimulation.”

As well as garnering accolades for their VE Day piece, some other residents in the home have also recently helped raise money for the NHS by creating artworks that were auctioned off as part of celebrations to honour the 200^th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. In an initiative started by Paul Stafford in association with Gallery Different, four residents donated hand painted works to help raise money for Meals for the NHS, a non-profit organisation set up to provide and deliver meals to those working on the frontline.

The auction, which took place online from the 5^th to the 12^th May, raised £17,110 in total, with art from residents Marian Spencer, Marion Nevill, Peggy Farnish and Mollie Wheeldon making up £500 of the total.

Rick continued, “I am also extremely proud that our residents raised such a large amount for the charity auction for the NHS. We are so grateful for their support and it was humbling to give something back. The residents had such fun creating their masterpieces.”

Marian Spencer, who worked as a GP, said, “Even though I am aware we studied Florence Nightingale in medical school and I have also been to the Florence Nightingale Museum at St Thomas’s, I was amazed how much I didn’t know. I enjoyed doing all the research”

Sherwood Grange is a state-of-the-art care home which provides full-time residential and dementia care, as well as short-term respite care. Designed to enable residents to live enjoyable and fulfilling lives, the care home has its very own cinema and hair salon, and there is plenty of space, both indoors and out, for relaxation and recreation.

To find out more about Sherwood Grange, please call customer relations manager, Tracey Fountain, on 0333 920 1017, or email tracey.fountain@careuk.com

For more general information, please visit careuk.com/sherwood-grange