Jam and scones, musical bingo and perfectly brewed tea. Enable2 supports care home residents across Bradford

08 Jun 2018

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Residents enjoying a game of musical bingo

Last month, as a part of our social return activities, we funded an afternoon tea for residents from three local care homes in Bradford; Mill View, Carlton Manor and Wellsprings. The aim of this event was to create social interaction amongst the residents, offer them a change from their usual environment and help with their mental wellbeing.

A report by NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, reported that one of the major problems facing those in care is that they do not have access to enough activities or ways to occupy their time. Due to this, there is an adverse effect on mental health, especially in a situation where the resident does not have any family or friends that are able to visit them. This is one of the major reasons we looked to fund this afternoon.

Enable2 arranged for taxis to collect and return the residents from their retrospective homes and then drop them off at our head office in Bradford. As we have accessibility and a large meeting room on the ground floor this was perfect location and easy for the residents and their care workers to access.Helen Hoyle- Social Return Manager and Val Convery Social Return Administrator at Enable2 arranged and organised the catering as well as planned the event.

The afternoon comprised of games such as musical bingo and a Yorkshire quiz, with prizes for the winners. There were lots of delicious sandwiches, cakes, scones, buns and of course tea for the residents to enjoy. They also got to take some word searches back home with them to give to their friends and fellow residents.

Feedback

Val Convery decorated the room beautifully

Those who attended really seemed to enjoy the afternoon - there was reports of lots of smiling, laughing, singing and even a few dance moves!  Feedback was collected from the support staff at the care homes post event:

Donna from Well Springs said “I spoke to residents that attended they said thank you. They had a lovely time-they mostly enjoyed the scones and quiz. They enjoyed an excellent outing”.

Similarly, Shajeda from Carlton Manor commented “Residents that attended absolutely loved it. I spoke to one resident who really enjoyed herself the whole afternoon. She said there was one game where music was played and they had to match the name to the album which was great fun. Other attendees also complimented the service and how lovely the staff were”.

Helen Hoyle talking at the Event

Finally, Helen at Mill View told us “The residents were anxious about where they were going on the journey to Enable2 but on the way back they were laughing and joking -they all said they thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially the music bingo and the food and snacks”.

Val Convery, Social Return Administrator at Enable2 shared her reason behind funding this event “We wanted to reach out to some elderly local people who may feel socially isolated and lonely. We thought a get together with new people would improve people’s mental health and be an enjoyable social event.”

The Social Return team plan to continue with events like this and reach out to more care homes in the future. It is just another way as a social enterprise that Enable2 can do good and create positive experiences for those in our local communities.

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