Hertfordshire Care Home Relaunches Beloved Gardening Club
A Hertfordshire care home has relaunched its Gardening Club in a bid to reunite its green-fingered residents with family and friends as lockdown restrictions continue to ease.
While the new Government rules this week permit two people per resident for indoor visits in care homes across England, Foxholes Care Home, near Hitchin, has relaunched its Gardening Club to reunite more visitors in the safety of the outdoors, where they will be less restricted with numbers and time spent together.
A green-fingered scheme that promotes exercise, independence and positive wellbeing, the Gardening Club provides residents and their loved ones with a chance to plant, grow and maintain their own miniature gardens in the grounds of Foxholes. And with children under the age of 16 currently unable to visit the home, the club is also a great way for them to still spend valuable time with their grandparents.
The warmer weather will also see the resumption of the chef’s garden, where Foxholes’ head chef, Manuel Tovar Angulo, will grow his own vegetables for seasonal recipes.
Neil Gandecha, Estate Manager at Foxholes, said: “The Gardening Club is one of our biggest activities at Foxholes. Residents get to spend quality and meaningful time with their family and friends while cultivating their miniature gardens, so relaunching the club at a time when we’re trying to reconnect them with loved ones just makes sense.
“We provide the truggs and the soil, though, what is planted and maintained is completely determined by our residents. We’re also excited to announce that our new outdoor visiting area will be ready by the end of April.”
In other news, all Foxholes residents eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations have now received their second dose, while the majority of the staff have received at least one dose as the roll-out continues.
Neil said: “We’re delighted to have all eligible residents completing both doses of their vaccinations. We’re edging closer to a sense of normality and look to the future with optimism.”