HC-One Celebrates Black History Month Promoting And Embracing Equality, Diversity And Inclusion
During the month of October, HC-One care homes across the UK embraced the celebration of Black History Month with a range of interactive, engaging and enjoyable activities.
Residents and Colleagues at Roseberry Court Care Home in Redcar enjoyed reading poems by Joshua Beckford called ‘Saving Mother Earth’, and also learnt more about the experiences of the Windrush Generation.
Roseberry Court Resident, Peggy Cheung said:
“The Windrush story is very powerful. I loved reading the poem from that amazing young boy.”
Springwater Lodge Care Home in Nottingham celebrated Black History Month by tasting flavoursome foods from different cultures. Colleagues at the home also brought in artefacts and ornaments of significance, sharing the history of the items with Residents who expressed a great interest in all the information shared with them about different cultures and backgrounds.
In Newton Heath in Greater Manchester, Averill House Care Home marked Black History Month by creating vibrant and colourful display boards, showcasing prominent key black figures in British and American history including Harriet Tubman, an American abolitionist and Rosa Parks, an American activist. Numerous discussions took place between Residents and Colleagues including talks about the Windrush generation; the career of Doctor Angelina Osbourne, an independent researcher and heritage consultant for the Windrush scandal; and discussing the civil rights movement, and British black heritage.
Vera Smith, a Resident at Averill House Care Home commented:
“It’s been really interesting. I didn’t know all of this, and to learn about this history has been amazing.”
Residents and Colleagues at Seabrooke Manor Care Home in Ilford, Essex also discussed the Windrush generation and Gladys Chibanda, Home Manager commented:
“As part of our Black History Month celebrations we showed an exhibition of the Windrush generation. One of our Residents, Mr Albert, was part of the Windrush generation and he recounted the story of that time on the boat. It was nice hearing the Windrush History from one of our Residents as part of our Black History Month celebrations.”
Aston House Care Home organised a special meal to mark the contribution that the black community has made to British society. Residents and Colleagues enjoyed the celebrations including a lovely tea party with the home decorated for the occasion. Residents and Colleagues thoroughly enjoyed listening, singing and dancing along to cultural music including music from popular artists such as James Brown, Bob Marley and Nina Simone.
Home Manager, Seema Sandeep-Jose, said:
“The day has been a brilliant opportunity to celebrate cultural diversity, traditions and history. We have many Residents living in Aston House and Colleagues who came to Britain for a new life and they have made such a great contribution to society that we wanted to celebrate their achievements. It’s so important that organisations celebrate Black History Month and use this opportunity to raise awareness of black history and culture – for many people, it can be a first step to embrace diversity and difference all year round.”
In addition to the countless activities taking place across its care homes, HC-One Colleagues also marked Black History Month by:
- Welcoming special guest speaker Doctor Patrick Vernon, OBE, a social commentator and campaigner who is known for his work in tackling health inequalities for ethnic minority communities in Britain, to hold an exclusive presentation and speech to all Colleagues and Residents at HC-One.
- Sharing a selection of poems including the Windrush poem and the Mother Earth poem with Colleagues.
- Promoting individual profiles of key African, Caribbean and Black figures from history on internal social media pages and groups.
- Changing the desktop wallpaper of all Colleagues electronic devices and email signatures, as well as the company Facebook banner and frame with Pan-African flag colours to mark the occasion.
