Worcester care home residents’ team up with Scouts to bring back favourite recipes

A care home in Worcester has teamed up with local Scouts 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 Perry Manor, on Charles Hastings 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 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 Worcester for many years to come, residents from Perry Manor have rolled up their sleeves and donned their aprons, to team up with the local Scouts to show just how tasty their food favourites from the past are.  

On the day, the Head Chef Nicola baked fruit, ginger and lemon drizzle cakes, as well as a Victoria sponge, bread pudding and a jam tart – all childhood favourites for residents Mike Parsons, aged 83, and Ann Mayo, aged 83. After the baking, came the all-important blind taste test game called “What’s the pud?” with the help of the Worcester Scouts. 

These were then given to the youngsters and residents who had to guess the ingredients and pudding – everyone struggled to guess the bread pudding and decided that their favourite was the Victoria sponge cake.

Mike said: “It is always nice having the younger generation visit the home. We integrated well and had fun doing the blind tasting. It was interesting to share old recipes with them and for them to try things they might not normally have!”

 Katherine Matthews, Home Manager at Perry Manor, said: “We’ve certainly been whipping up some treats here at Perry Manor as we revisited 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 Scouts to Perry Manor for an afternoon of taste testing! Everyone had a great time talking about their favourite foods – and taste testing the Victoria sponge 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

 Perry Manor is a state-of-the-art Care UK home, which provides full time residential, nursing and dementia care, as well as short term respite care. Rated outstanding by the CQC, the home is designed to enable residents to live enjoyable and fulfilling lives, the care home has its very own cinema, cafe and hair salon, with plenty of space both indoors and out for relaxation and recreation.