Abbey Lodge Opens Butterfly Café to Welcome Local Community

Care home Abbey Lodge in Battle East Sussex welcomed Mayor of Battle, Councillor Vikki Cook, to cut the ribbon on their care home ‘Butterfly Café’ and ‘Forget-me-not woodland walk’ yesterday 14th March 2023.

Abbey Lodge is a Learning Disabilities/Dementia care home, Care Matters (SE)Ltd and has an individual that we support who has had a goal to become a waitress. She would often practice how she would speak to customers and practice serving them. But despite our best efforts, she was unable to find a part time job in a café/restaurant. So staff refurbished its café which will be open to the local community, 2 days a week for a short period on a Tuesday and Thursday afternoon every week.

Mayor Vikki Cook also officially opened Forget-me-not woodland walk, which the home developed on spareground on site during the pandemic, when staff and residents could not get out to the local park.

The individuals that we support live very active lives, with individuals regularly accessing the Gym, shops, golf driving range and other clubs and community services. So not being able to access the community was hard for them. So we developed the area and the woodland trust gave us 120 trees to plant.

Paddy Turner of the management team said: “Our individuals love this space and use it regularly throughout the pandemic lockdowns and since, during the warmer months. We are now opening these up to the community too. Our waitress was so happy and did such a great job, we are so very very proud of her.”