Summer 2020 has been like no other, for so many of us. Our residents usually welcome the summer months by grabbing their sunhats and preparing themselves for day trips out with members of the Gold Care team and their fellow residents. With the COVID-19 pandemic, our residents have been finding new ways of keeping busy and soaking up the sun from the secure and safe spaces of their home gardens.
To help get creative juices flowing, encourage residents to get fresh air and some exercise, Gold Care Homes launched their summer Garden Competition! Homes began to reach out to family members, organisations, and their local communities for support, ideas, and donations to help them decorate their gardens. With the help and support of the Gold Care Support Office and local networks, our homes dusted off their gardening gloves and begun brainstorming for ways to make their gardens reflect what the residents value most.
Our competition was closely monitored with regular check-ins and the eventual final to our external judging panel of Cecilia Bufton and Catherine Penny from Plant Heritage. Plant Heritage is a leading research and conservation charity, who protect plants of all sizes across the UK – from large oak trees to delicate orchids.
Catherine and Cecilia kindly gifted prizes to the top 3 winners of beautiful seeds for the residents to plant next spring and a congratulatory letter for all participants! To showcase their support to all our Gold Care Homes, Cecilia and Catherine created videos commending all of the staff and residents for their efforts and creativity.
Winners:
- 1st Place: Martins House, Stevenage
- 2nd Place: Autumn Vale Care Centre, Welwyn
- 3rd Place: Acton Care Centre, Acton.
Ravi Gidar, CEO, commented: “the cognitive stimulation for our residents has been unwavered throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to the efforts of our dedicated staff. We are incredibly grateful to Plant Heritage who supported our competition and gifted the winner’s lovely prizes. It has been wonderful watching our Gold Care family immerse themselves into this opportunity and create beautiful, user-friendly gardens for all residents to use”.