Students Stage Festive Performances For Care Home Residents

A group of students and staff from Bridgwater and Taunton College have been delighting residents of a local dementia care home with their renditions of Christmas songs old and new, and younger pupils from Northgate Primary have welcomed them to watch the dress rehearsal of their nativity. 

Staff at Avalon Nursing Home have been working with the leaders of Bridgwater and Taunton College’s Health and Social Care programme to devise an ongoing programme of activities which will benefit both students and residents. 

The students’ first visit of this academic year featured a get-to-know-you arts and crafts session, and the ‘carolling’ visit was the second of the series. 

Avalon’s activities co-ordinator, Lisa Priddice, said: “The residents loved the students and staff singing and a lot of them joined in with their familiar favourites. 

“The group started with traditional carols including Away in a Manger, Silent Night and Little Donkey before moving on to more recent pop classics such as Last Christmas, Merry Christmas Everybody and Fairy Tale of New York. 

“We’d like to say a big thank you to our operations manager, James Marchant, who came in during his week off to play keyboard for the singers.” 

James’s wife Claire Marchant, a lecturer on the Health and Social Care programme, said: “We’re keen to visit Avalon regularly because it provides valuable work experience for our students that is highly relevant to their career aspirations, and they thoroughly enjoy it. 

“We’re hoping that in the spring they can be involved in developing the sensory garden at the home.”