Sail Of The Century For Salvation Army Care Home Residents
Residents at a Salvation Army-run care home in Weston-Super-Mare went on a week-long virtual sightseeing tour of the world, setting sail on a virtual cruise ship.
Salvation Army staff at Dewdown House on Beach Road, who co-create activities with the older people in their care, asked residents to choose which countries they wanted to visit on their virtual cruise. Some of them have never travelled abroad before.
The choice was narrowed down to Italy, America, Japan, China and the UK and after passengers were consulted over food, a special menu was drawn up to reflect each country’s cuisine.
Clare Timbrell, activities leader at the Salvation Army home said:
“We do like to have fun at Dewdown House, bringing the joy of new experiences to our residents. With the help of volunteers, we decorated our dining room to look like a cruise ship, and built a ship’s steering wheel which residents enjoyed using to pretend to steer the ‘Good Ship Dewdown’ into port each day.
“Our Chaplain spoke each day about the work of the Salvation Army in each country we visited and we prayed for the Salvation Army officers and volunteers who work in these countries.
“Residents tried out Chinese Calligraphy, built Feng Shui gardens, had a Chinese Market, built towers of spaghetti and marshmallows, played traditional instruments, drank mocktails and juices, danced and sang traditional cultural dances and learned some of the language for each country.”
Despite travelling the high seas, the highlight of the week was when The Good Ship Dewdown returned home on Friday.
Clare explained: “The Weston Ukulele Players entertained us with songs, jokes and banter. Residents joined in dancing and singing and tucked into a traditional fish and chips supper. It was a lovely conclusion to a fun-packed week of new experiences.”
Passengers said they had a thoroughly enjoyable week.
Maureen said: “I’ve never tried anything like Chinese Calligraphy before, I definitely want to do this again.”
However, it was Ann who was keen to have the last word.
She said: “It’s been a wonderful week, really wonderful. Where are we going Monday?”
