A new 'welcome' at Saxonwood Care Home
Residents at Saxonwood Care Home in Battle have been busy painting, printing and planting to make the entrance to their home colourful and welcoming.
Jade, Activities Co-ordinator at Saxonwood, has documented this project to share the hive of activity and how proud the residents are of their new artwork.
"What a wonderful way to end the summer.
The residents have previously made beautiful welcome signs for within the home but sadly due to not being able to welcome visitors, these are no longer seen and this became a little sad for some residents.
Residents came up with the idea to create a welcome sign outside by the visitor’s area. So when we were kindly donated these handmade planters by Claire, Vera’s daughter, we all put our heads together and came up with the idea to use the planters as the new welcome sign. The residents thought this would be a lovely way to welcome people to their home. Residents and staff worked together to paint these lovely planters a very bright blue to brighten the entrance.
Sigita, Care Home Manager, and Rosemary, resident, spent some time together painting some vibrant yellow and blue flowers. Rosemary stated how lovely the yellow and blue look together, she was happy with her choices and created a colourful quirky flower.
Marjorie, resident, and Roxi, Deputy Care Home Manager, helped finish off the dark blue and the stems of the flowers. Marjorie thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the project.
Marex, Care Assistant, and Kathleen, resident, had a lot of fun getting their hands dirty while planting beautiful fuchsias and daffodils in one of the planters. Kathleen really enjoyed this and said that fuchsias are one of her favourites and she cannot wait to see it flourish.
Residents Marjorie and Joyce worked together in their planter, placing the daffodils very nicely around the edge and even made sure they were deep enough so that the daffodils would last the winter. Joyce spoke about how her dad was a very keen gardener and that he taught her everything she knows about gardening.
Marjorie said that planting was the best part of the project, she couldn’t wait to get her hands dirty and was so happy with the colour of her geranium when she saw it. Marjorie said this project has rekindled memories of her own garden and she enjoyed telling us how beautiful it was, her very own 'secret garden'.
We're delighted with the end result and hats off to all the residents and staff who worked as a team to make our entrance look so welcoming and colourful."