It began to look a lot like Christmas

Company news

Dec 24, 2020

Despite tiers, masks and restrictions, Care UK homes up and down the country had fun throughout the festive season – and now residents and colleagues alike are looking forward to settling down to Christmas dinners prepared by our award-winning catering teams.

In a year like none before, Christmas cards have helped many of us stay in touch – and for residents at Sherwood Grange, home manager Rick Mayne’s forward thinking helped to make their cards extra special.

Since October, Rick’s been taking photos of all the residents at the home in Kingston Vale, each posing for a suitably festive Christmas card in front of Santa’s grotto. The surprise is that these cards were printed, each with a personalised message from the resident, and sent to their loved ones, ready to arrive before Christmas and take pride of place on the mantelpiece.

Our annual Christmas cake competition saw plenty of entries this year and the quality was very high, reflecting the time residents and colleagues had put into their submissions. After lots of deliberation, the judges awarded first place to Skylark House’s Walking in the Air-themed cake. The cake, inspired by the festive film The Snowman, included Christmas trees, penguins, a whale and gingerbread houses. Second prize went to Appleby House, in Epsom, for a pandemic-themed cake featuring mask-wearing snowmen and fondant loo rolls. Whitefarm Lodge took third place with a snow globe confection, whisked up as the residents took part in the traditional Stir-up Sunday. The judges loved the fact that the cake was dedicated to friends lost during 2020. The home also wrote a beautiful poem in tribute to them.

At Abney Court, in Cheadle, it was a ‘gin-gle’ bar that helped to put a bit of extra spirit into Christmas. Just for the festive season, the coffee shop offered some additional warming refreshments. Flavoured gin proved popular with the residents, particularly a seasonal rhubarb and ginger offering.

At Cleves Place, residents received beautiful decorative coasters, courtesy of a local Christmas-themed tile making competition. Children in Haverhill made ceramic tiles with a Christmas theme. The tiles were then given to residents to use as cheerful festive coasters for their favourite drinks.

Marketing Director Jacqui White said: “This has certainly been a year like no other. Our teams have worked to keep people safe and to enable over 6,500 residents at Care UK homes to keep living busy and meaningful lives, even through national and local lockdowns.

“Now, when everyone is having to rethink their festive plans, our teams are working extra hard to make it a special time for each and every resident, with food, entertainment and presents”.