A couple who’ve been married for almost 60 years have been able to spend Valentine’s Day together at our home thanks to our dedicated team.

Mr and Mrs Bridges, aka David, 87 and Helena, 84, have been married for 58 years. Last year, their daughter Kara Bridges struggled to find a suitable home for her parents and was desperate to find one which would accommodate them both and allow them to stay together.

After four months of searching,  she found Barrowhill Hall, our 74-bedroom residential and nursing home in Rocester, which specialises in caring for those living with dementia and memory loss, on the Derbyshire/Staffordshire border. Her parents moved into our home in November 2023, on the week of their 58^th wedding anniversary.

“It means so much to me that Mum and Dad can be together at the same home and that they are so well cared for,” says Kara.

“We’d been looking since July and after two failed placements we were so happy to find a home as lovely as Barrowhill Hall. The home was able to accommodate them both together and the team were able to care for their very different dementia needs.

“They settled in straight away as the home really understand dementia and they got to know them as individuals – right from the beginning,” Kara says. “That first week they even received an anniversary cake and card, it was so unexpected and so lovely.”

The couple met in the early 60s, Helena had moved over from Ireland, working as a nurse and David was a joiner. The pair got married in Burton-on-Trent, in 1965, at the Catholic Church on Guild Street.

Our activities lead, Val Barnes, says, “We’re so happy we’ve been able to keep David and Helena together, they are a lovely couple and their eyes light up when they see each other.

“We make sure they are able to sit together in the home’s lounge and share their meals together. They celebrated Valentine’s Day with our special three-course lunch in our dining room, joined by our other residents and their loved ones.”

The dining room was a riot of colour and scent thanks to the activities team organising a flower arranging session with the residents ahead of the big day.

“The home looked beautiful and we always feel so welcome when we visit,” says Kara, who was joined by her son, David and Helena’s grandson, Luke. “The team have been really supportive of us as a family.”

“It’s great friends and family members can join in with the activities too. Dad is a keen gardener so I know he’ll enjoy helping with the garden when the weather is warmer. The flower arranging was a lot of fun and it was very sociable. The home always has a great atmosphere.”

Home manager, Dania Meadows, says, “We will always accommodate our residents’ needs as best we can and the team work tirelessly to keep our residents healthy and happy. Our residents’ family, friends and loved ones become part of our extended family.

“There’s a lot of love at our home and the flower arranging was a very colourful and uplifting activity for Valentine’s Day. You could say it was ‘blooming lovely.”

Our carers went above and beyond to make the festive season special for our residents and they were really looking forward to spending Christmas Day with them.

Our home is a 74-bedroom residential and nursing home on the Derbyshire/Staffordshire border and we specialise in caring for those living with dementia and memory loss. We are rated ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and we were recently West Midlands’ Finalists at the Great British Care Awards 2023 for the ‘Care Home Manager’ and ‘Dementia Carer’ award.

Emmanuel Igantious, 28, and Raj Islam, 26, joined Barrowhill Hall last year and they were part of the dedicated team who helped to make Christmas “magical” for our residents.

“I loved working on Christmas Day!” Emmanuel says, “We all do this job because we care so much about the residents and it means everything to us to see them happy. I got so much enjoyment from watching them open their presents and being part of their special day.”

Raj says, “Coming into work on Christmas Day was very exciting and seeing the smiles on our residents’ faces was priceless. I don’t have grandparents and so the residents are like my grandparents.”

Christmas Day at our home began with the team handing out gifts to all the residents in our lounge and in their bedrooms. Everyone enjoyed a homemade Christmas dinner with all the trimmings and we watched the King’s speech on the TV, which the residents were really looking forward to.

Resident Gladys Poree, 88, described our home’s Christmas decorations as “Beautiful” and the festivities as “magical”.

Our lifestyle coordinator, Sally-Ann Davis, says, “It’s always a home from home here and our residents’ family and friends are very much a part of the Barrowhill Hall family too.

“Val and Ruth from the lifestyle team handed out the presents on Christmas morning, it’s become their tradition, and they love it. We all worked really hard as a team to make our home magical for the residents over Christmas time, and on the day itself. Our residents had a great time and that’s what counts.”

We organised and hosted a variety of Christmas events during the build-up to the big day. These included a Christmas evening with live singers, complete with mulled wine and mince pies, a talented vocalist performing a war-themed Christmas show called ‘Putting on the Blitz’, schoolchildren singing carols in the home’s lit-up garden, and a Christmas fair with Santa Claus meeting residents.

Carer, Tiffany Beardsley, 18, was one of the team who had a key role during the Santa Claus visit. She dressed as an elf, whilst her partner, Tom, also a carer at the home, was Santa himself, stepping in to help last minute when Santa couldn’t make it.

“It was really good fun,” Tiffany says. “I just enjoy spending time with the residents and building bonds with them. We all did our best to make Christmas special for them. I really enjoy care work and chatting with the residents is one of the best parts about it. Some of them are really funny, we always have a giggle.”

Our care home manager, Dania Meadows says, “I’m really proud of the team, they can’t do enough for the residents. We had a lovely Christmas Day and it’s heart-warming that the team enjoyed it as much as the residents did.”

Our residents were serenaded by school children from Abbotsholme School in Uttoxeter and enjoyed classic carols and Christmas songs whilst they kept cosy and warm indoors.

The special performance took place at the grounds of our home and as the children gathered around the lit-up Christmas tree in our large garden, the residents watched and waved from the windows with the Barrowhill Hall team.

Amongst those who enjoyed being serenaded was resident Kenneth Staley, 79, “It was lovely,” he said, whilst resident Gladys Poree, 88, described the concert as “beautiful”.

Our lifestyle coordinator, Sally-Ann Davis, could see how much the residents loved the concert but also the positive impact the children’s singing had on them.

“Being a dementia specialist home, a lot of our residents have limited communication,” she explained, “but some of them became noticeably chattier during the children’s visit. Our residents enjoyed it so much and we could see that just from the looks of joy on their faces.

“Everyone was very attentive, and they were smiling, nodding, waving and singing along, they just loved it. It was a cold night, so we decided to keep everyone warm and watch from the windows and it felt very festive.”

Maintaining strong community links is one way our dedicated team help to ensure our residents live lives full of meaning and purpose. Previously the students from Abbotsholme School have visited to read to the residents and we were delighted to welcome them back for the Christmas concert.

Resident Alfred Hudson, 87, enjoyed the carols and said they were, “brilliant and heart-warming.” For him, the concert brought back special memories of his favourite Christmases. “I remember Christmas with my two boys”, he said, “this reminds me of when they were young.”

The children sang classic carols such as ‘Away in a Manger’ and ‘Little Donkey’, alongside their Headmistress, Mrs Helen Wilkinson, who was beaming with pride.

“The children had a fantastic time,” she said. “They were singing their hearts out for the residents and representing everything our school stands for.

“We were so proud of them for volunteering and for all their efforts in making the residents smile. It seems we enjoyed it as much as they did.”

The residents’ family members, friends and loved ones were invited to the evening, which was a big hit with Sally-Ann’s grandson, four-year-old Jehsiah Smith.

“He is fascinated by choirs,” Sally-Ann said. “He’s forever singing Jingle Bells and he hadn’t seen such a big choir before so he couldn’t take his eyes off them from the window.

“He’s a bit nervous and he loves being at the home because our residents love to see him. They always have time for him and love to chat with him.

“He’s coming here on Boxing Day and he’s really looking forward to it. The residents give him confidence and really bring him out of his shell.”

The Christmas concert is one of several activities we put on over the festive season. Other events included a Christmas evening with a live singer, complete with mulled wine and mince pies, a talented vocalist performing a war-themed Christmas show called ‘Putting on the Blitz’, and a Christmas fair with Santa Claus meeting residents in the home’s lounge and visiting nursing residents in their rooms.

Our care home manager, Dania Meadows said, “For us these events are about coming together as an extended family at Christmas time – the residents, their loved ones and the Barrowhill Hall team.

“It was a very special evening having the children come to our home and we could see how much it meant to the residents. The team have been going above and beyond to make sure Christmas is special and magical for the residents and this performance from Abbotsholme School was no exception.

“It really gave us all that warm Christmassy feeling and it was the perfect way to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.”

Our residents and staff created a sensory garden and they are now quite literally enjoying the fruits of their labour.

Our 74-bedroom residential and nursing home has always enjoyed the benefits of the countryside, being on the Derbyshire/Staffordshire border, but now we’ve taken this to the next level, growing our own produce via ‘The Garden Project’, which began in March.

Our activities lead, Sally-Ann Davis explains; “We started The Garden Project because we wanted to encourage our residents to make the most of our gardens that overlook the neighbouring fields and the beautiful views. Being outside in nature can be very calming and lift people’s mood. We also wanted it to be a working space where we could grow herbs and a variety of fruits and vegetables.

“A lot of our residents love to garden, so this ongoing project is perfect for them and we’re now at the point where we’re putting the home-grown mint on the new potatoes at lunch and raspberries on our cakes for afternoon tea. It’s a big success and it’s certainly a talking point at mealtimes!”

Our residents Alfred Hudson, 87, and Leonard Redman, 85, are both keen gardeners and they are among those who have been enjoying the benefits of the project.

“It’s good to do the jobs properly,” Alfred says, “I’ve been sorting the onions and preparing the soil. There’s always more to do.”

“The garden is fantastic!” says Leonard, who has been planting and pruning, “it’s kept us all busy and it’s very colourful.”

The Garden Project was thoughtfully designed by Sally-Ann for those living with dementia and contains raised planters for easier access, strong-smelling plants and herbs, such as lavender, mint and thyme, and other sensory elements such as wind chimes.

She explains how, as a multisensory activity, gardening can be powerful and therapeutic for individuals living with dementia, benefitting cognitive function, emotional well-being and physical health.

“Gardening can help our residents to stay active and to feel empowered as they nurture the plants.” She says. “It can be very mindful especially with the textures and the smells, like the smell of the soil for example.

“It can evoke memories in our residents that may otherwise be hard for them to reach and it’s lovely to see them having conversations about the gardens they had before and the best way to do things. It’s also been very helpful because I’ve never grown anything prior to this, so they are teaching me how it’s done!”

Our care home manager, Dania Meadows says, “Setting up The Garden Project has been a labour of love and a joint effort across the home. Now it’s in full swing we love that our residents feel such a sense of accomplishment.”

As a very sociable project it’s been brilliant for our active residents who love to garden and it’s also perfect for our residents who just love to sit and enjoy the sensory elements. It’s a place everyone can use when family and friends come to visit because it’s so private and peaceful. We’ve even had family members joining in and bringing plants and ornaments for it.

“Whether our residents created it, enjoy maintaining it, sitting in it or simply eating the produce from it, we’re very proud of our garden and what our residents have achieved and we’re delighted it brings them so much happiness in so many different ways.