Residents At Hertfordshire Care Home Enjoy Christmas Market INSIDE Home Due To Pandemic Restrictions
Residents at a Hertfordshire care home enjoyed a Christmas fayre inside the home after staff pulled out all the stops to ensure this year’s festivities continued despite coronavirus restrictions.
With the current restrictions brought on by the pandemic, it looked as if residents at Foxholes Care Home, near Hitchin, would miss out on experiencing a trip to the local Christmas market.
Staff at the family-run residential care home rallied together, however, and managed to arrange for a safe, socially distanced Christmas market to be set up inside the home for the residents to enjoy.
The carefully planned out process, which adhered to infection control guidelines, saw vendors set up their market stalls throughout the home while the residents were isolating, before leaving and allowing the residents to explore and browse the festive stalls.
The first of its kind and involving local Hertfordshire businesses, the unique shopping experience provided the only chance residents will get to buy Christmas presents for family and friends this year due to current restrictions. With all items for sale marked and with assistance from staff, residents spent the day browsing and buying from the rows of stalls selling festive decorations, jewellery, teddies, cards, canvas prints, picture frames, wax melts and more.
At the end of the day, the stall holders returned to pack up and collect payment, with Foxholes staff thanking them for enabling the residents to experience a Christmas fayre.
Stall holders also donated an item from each of their stands to be put into a Christmas raffle with a bid to raise funds for a disabled-friendly minibus.
Hannah Granger, of Foxholes Care Home, said: “Our residents love the festivities that come with experiencing Christmas markets and we wanted to ensure they didn’t feel left out this year due to the current restrictions. Hosting a market indoors took a lot of planning and effort, but the local businesses we reached out to were only too happy to help out. Least to say, we pulled it off and the residents were delighted. While we understand things aren’t normal this year, we continue to try our best to keep our residents connected with the community, of which they are an integral part of.”
The indoor Christmas market marks the first of an array of festive events being held at the home this year, with a Christmas party taking place on Friday 11th December and a Christmas variety show being held on Thursday 17th December. The home will also be part of the Hitchin Christmas Tree Festive Trail from the 11th to 13th December.
