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Elfcare Workers get fundraising at St Peter’s Park care home!
Published: Wednesday 22nd December 2021
This Christmas, winter wonders are taking place in Elf and Social Care…
Happy and ‘Elfy
St Peter’s Park, our Bexhill care home brought Christmas to the community when Santa’s little helpers visited during a special fundraising event for Alzheimer’s Society. Cakes were feasted on, decorations and cards were sold and raffles were held, as the residents and their families fully got into the festive spirit.
Organised by Maria, St Peter’s Park’s new Activities Co-ordinator, many North Pole elves were welcomed on site… bearing suspicious resemblance to our care team!
Elf Day is a yearly Alzheimer’s Society initiative created to raise money for people affected by dementia. Putting the fun in fundraising, hosts enjoy dressing up as elves and bringing friends and family into themed activities all for a very good cause. With the recent opening of the site’s new dementia wing, this is an initiative close to the hearts of teams and residents alike. This year, St Peter’s Park went all in – with one extra elf joining the organiser’s ranks – Sylvia, a resident!
A thoughtful present
Although she has only been with us since September, Maria’s plan had been some time in the making, and her heartfelt efforts to bring joy to the residents paid off beautifully.
When asked about her new role and the enjoyment she’s already brought, Maria said:
“I love it, I absolutely love it. I love working with the residents and organising events.”
“Having heard all about the disappointments of last Christmas, I wanted to make this one better, just in time. We’ve already had to cancel children’s choirs, we had our Christmas party last week, for which our performer didn’t turn up. This was a big deal to all of us.”
It has been no easy task to keep spirits high throughout the pandemic, but as Maria demonstrated, a little really does go a long way.
Christmas came early!
And so, a big family coffee morning was held for Elf Day. Asked by Maria to bring in cakes to be donated for the event, the staff made sure there was a mouth-watering array for the sweet-toothed. With an entry cost of £3, each visitor would receive a cup of tea or coffee, and could take their fill at only 50p a slice!
Also available to raise festive funds were Christmas cards and salt dough tree decorations, all handmade by the residents!
Not only that, but joining the excitement were two goodie hampers full of bottles and biscuits, donated by St Peter’s Park’s local Tesco Community Champion, whom Maria approached for raffle prizes. There’s no overstating the value of strong bonds throughout the community, and bringing people together for one cause made this day all the more special.
The fun continued with games of Guess the Cake’s Weight – the winner of which could take the entire delicacy home, and Guess the Number of Elf Shoes in a picture – for which the prize was a bottle of Champagne!
“It went so well that we’re going to do another one for next year. Everyone remarked on how well it went – we had music, lovely atmosphere, it was just special to see everyone all together, chatting with their families and loved ones.”
– Maria
In total, the elfcare workers raised £330! Half of this is being donated to Alzheimer’s Society, and the other half is going into St Peter’s Park’s savings for a big dream for the future.
A future gift from Father Christmas
Maria is rallying in the long-term to bring residents as much enjoyment and connection as possible, and this takes the form of a new interactive technology table – like a huge iPad.
On this, residents can play piano, do large jigsaws, watch fish tanks, make zoom calls to distant family on a big screen, and much more. Maria says; “We want a mobile one, so it can go between the different wings. We want everyone to be able to access it.”
The final goal for that is thousands of pounds away, but St Peter’s Park is taking it step by step. By keeping residents at the forefront of every endeavour, events like Elf Day can benefit absolutely everyone.
Merry Christmas!
Looking for a career with heart?
People like Maria, to whom caring comes naturally, are the very heart of Agincare.
If you’d like to find out more about careers with us, check out the Agincare careers website today.
