Care Home Time Capsule Receives Civic Seal of Approval
A Morpeth care home’s time capsule, which captures some of the town’s recent history, has received the Civic seal of approval.
Guest of honour at the ceremony at Riverside House, at Low Stanners, was the Mayor of Morpeth, councillor Alison Byard.
Three residents, Bill Simpson, Ella Stephenson, and Jean LeGassicke also took part in the burial of the capsule.
Residents and their families either donated or suggested items that should be contained in the metal container. This included a Covid kit – a face mask and lateral flow test – coins, a copy of the 2021/22 Morpeth Town AFC annual programme, the Jubilee edition of the Morpeth Herald newspaper and a pamphlet, ‘Morpeth Town Hall and its Treasures’ which was donated by the Mayor.
The capsule has been placed in the home’s gardens and marked by a plaque at the spot where it has been buried.
Refreshments were provided at the ceremony’s conclusion and the Mayor stayed to chat to residents.
Councillor Byard said:
“Riverside House and its residents have done a great job in creating a snapshot of life from their point of view that will inform the community of what life was like here in years to come.
“It was a real honour to be involved in the ceremony to bury the time capsule and I also thoroughly enjoyed meeting and chatting to the residents afterwards.
“Inviting me here, in my capacity of Mayor of Morpeth is a reflection of how keen Riverside House is to be an integral part of the community.
“It had a strong reputation for this pre-Covid and it is fantastic to see it is rekindling old relationships and forging new ones now that pandemic restrictions have eased.”
Richard Dobinson, Riverside House activities co-ordinator, said:
“We saw this as an opportunity to capture a moment in our community’s history and to create a lasting commemoration of the home and its residents.
“Residents have picked or suggested items that reflect their interests, backgrounds and routines as well as life in Morpeth in recent times.
