21 June 2013
From Cream Teas to Pimm’s and Jazz: Hallmark Care Homes Celebrate National Care Home Open Day in Style
Today is National Care Home Open Day and at Hallmark Care Homes we are doing our bit to support this excellent initiative, which aims to tell the world “that care homes really can be inspiring places, full of unique, intelligent and charming characters, and run by special people that really do care.” Click through to find out what we are getting up today to at our care homes across the country.
It is an unfortunate truth that public perception of the care home sector has been influenced, both historically and in recent times, by a small number of under-performing homes and the negative attention they have received from the media.
It is the goal of today’s National Care Home Open Day to help change these long-held preconceptions and at Hallmark Care Homes we are doing our bit to support this excellent initiative, which aims to tell the world “that care homes really can be inspiring places, full of unique, intelligent and charming characters, and run by special people that really do care.”
You can find out more about the National Care Home Open Day events taking place in your area here – simply search for care homes near you and check out the activities that they have planned as care homes across the country open their doors to the public. With over 2000 care homes involved, you will be sure to find one participating in your area and we suggest you make swift plans to visit and enjoy the day’s festivities.
If you happen to be in the Leigh-on-Sea area of Essex today, dig out your polka dot dress or your rock’n’roll leather jacket and join the residents and staff of our Admiral Court care home for a 1940’s themed ‘past times’ day. Or for those of you near our Bryn Celyn Care Home in Maesteg you could be in for a ‘rootin-tootin’ good time at their country and western themed BBQ.
Pictured: Admiral Court team residents and team members at today’s open day
Alternatively you could enjoy the first day of summer by joining the residents at our Alexandra Grange Care Home in Wokingham for a Royal Ascot themed Pimm’s and jazz day – a thoroughbred summer combination we’re sure you will agree. Remember, everyone is invited and the aim of today is to encourage the local community to connect with our care home residents, so get on down.
Even if you do not have time to visit a local care home today, you can still make a difference by sharing the message and ‘spreading the positivity’ of the day by liking the National Care Home Open Day on Facebook – which you can do here. Alternatively you can follow the Twitter conversation by keeping an eye on the #NCHOD hash tag throughout the day.
It is the focus on community and the importance of the individual in care that underpins the National Care Home Open Day that ties in so well with the ethos of Hallmark Care Homes.
Our Anisha Grange care home in Billericay Essex, winner in 2011 of the ‘UKs most outstanding new care home’ is a shining example of Hallmark’s focus on the personalisation of care and the importance of community.
Facilities at Anisha Grange include a cinema room, therapy room, garden cafe and a ‘his and hers hair salon.’ These facilities allow residents to maintain their independence through the significant elements of their lifestyle such as meeting friends for coffee and getting their hair and nails done – and it is these features of modern care homes that the National Care Home Open Day seeks to highlight.
Anisha Grange’s community room was cited in a recent Guardian.co.uk article written by Martin Green, the head of the English Community Care Association, as a great example of how care homes can be integrated with community in which it sits – with the community room available for use by outside groups and classes, whilst requiring that residents be able to join in if they wish.
Pictured: Community Room at Anisha Grange has gone from strength to strength since its opening by John Baron MP