Quorn care home residents team up with Beavers to bring back favourite recipes

A care home in Quorn has teamed up with a local Beavers group and joined a nationwide campaign to save traditional recipes from being forgotten.  

A poll of 2,000 adults carried out by Care UK, which operates Lonsdale Mews, on Farley Way, found almost two-thirds (65%) of the nation no longer use family recipes that have been handed down through the generations, however, 43% of people surveyed are keen to save them. 

In a bid to prevent family recipes passed down through the generations from being lost forever, Care UK has launched a free downloadable recipe book – Recipes to remember, which features recipes shared by care home residents across the UK. From food enjoyed during World War Two to quirky desserts from the 1970s, the book includes residents’ favourite foods, alongside recipes tailored to support older people by Care UK’s award-winning chefs. 

Keen to keep their recipes bubbling away in Quorn for many years to come, residents from Lonsdale Mews rolled up their sleeves and donned their aprons, to team up with the Second Quorn Beavers to show just how tasty their food favourites from the past are.  

On the day, residents, including former scout Shirley, aged 88, were joined by the youngsters to taste test classic puddings including pear trifle and blancmange. Head Chef Lucy Glover prepared the tasty treats, while residents enjoyed making a traditional raspberry trifle ahead of the Beavers arrival. The Beavers spent the morning rating the desserts on appearance, smell, taste, feel and whether they enjoyed them.

Shirley said: “It was lovely to see the Beavers; it brought back such good memories from when I was an Akela in the Leicester Cub Scouts. The raspberry trifle was delicious”.

Shirley was an Akela (Cub Scout Leader) for 12 years and volunteered in Scouting for 37 years, “loving every minute of it”.

The Beavers voted that the older recipe, the traditional raspberry trifle, was tastier than the new version.

Toby Sturgess, Home Manager at Lonsdale Mews care home, said: “We’ve certainly been whipping up some treats here at Lonsdale Mews as we headed to the kitchen to revisit residents’ food favourites from decades gone by.

“Regardless of age, food plays an important part in all of our lives, and there’s something special about the way the senses have the ability to evoke happy memories and emotions – which is why keeping old family recipes bubbling away and sharing them with younger generations is so important.

“It was fantastic to welcome the Quorn Beavers to Lonsdale Mews for an afternoon spent cooking! Everyone had a great time talking about their favourite foods – and taste testing the trifles was certainly the cherry on the cake!” 

To find out more about Care UK’s Recipes to remember initiative or to download your copy of the recipe book, please visit: careuk.com/recipes-to-remember

Lonsdale Mews offers full-time residential and dementia care, as well as short-term respite. The home incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities and includes its own cinema, hairdressing salon and café. The layout of the building is configured into a series of individual suites, each having a dedicated lounge/dining room to help facilitate the creation of close-knit communities.