Sutton Coldfield care home residents team up with local pupils to bring back favourite recipes

A care home in Sutton Coldfield has teamed up with local school 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 Mercia Grange, on Lichfield Road, 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 Sutton Coldfield for many years to come, residents from Mercia Grange have rolled up their sleeves and donned their aprons with the help of pupils from Little Sutton Primary School to show just how tasty their food favourites from the past are.  

On the day, resident Pam Long and the youngsters made and decorated waffles, using her original recipe from the 1950’s. 

Pam said: “How lovely to see the children all together. Lots of lovely creations were made and they were very tasty.”

Michael McNelis, Home Manager at Mercia Grange, said: “We’ve certainly been whipping up some treats here at Mercia Grange 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 pupils from Little Sutton Primary School to Mercia Grange for an afternoon spent cooking! Everyone had a great time talking about their favourite foods – and seeing the pupils get into a pickle with weird and wonderful names of foods from the 70s 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: www.careuk.com/recipes-to-remember

Mercia Grange is a state-of-the-art care home which provides full-time residential, nursing, dementia, and short-term respite care. The three-storey care home, which features 67 ensuite bedrooms, has been designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence. The care home incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities and includes its own cinema, hair salon and café.