Dick Whittington, Cinderella and school children singing make it a fun festive season for Harry Sotn

Company news

Dec 13, 2011

Residents at Harry Sotnick House are looking forward to a holiday season jammed packed with fun and activity.

Children from Manor Infants School opened up the Christmas activities on Tuesday 6^th December when they came to the Cranleigh Avenue home to sing the residents’ favourite carols.

Activities co-ordinator Jane Mahnke said: “The residents had a lovely time. They helped to put up the decorations to make goody bags and cookies to give the children. They really enjoyed hearing the children sing and they particularly liked chatting to them and their teachers.”

Along with fellow activities coordinator Ann Spreadbury, Jane wrote a fun-filled version of Cinderella, which the team will be performing on Tuesday 13^th December. She said: “The staff have been great and given up a lot of their spare time. We have had lots of volunteers and everyone has been making costumes and scouring the local charity shops to make sure the production is as fun and colourful as possible.

“There will be lots for the residents to join in with, we have incorporated a lot of their favourite songs and when Cinderella and the prince get married at the end, we all sing Love and Marriage, which is their favourite.”

On Monday 19^th, theatre group Carousel will be visiting the home to perform Dick Whittington’ and local entertainer Les Taylor will also perform Christmas songs for the home’s 90 residents.

Jane said: “The residents and their relatives are really looking forward to the day. They love joining in with the pantomime and Les is always popular as the residents always love a good sing-along. As well as joining in the fun, they will be tucking into mince pies and mulled wine produced by our chef and his team.”

The home provides specialist residential care for older frail people with dementia in a modern environment.  The home, which opened in 2011, has a salon, café, library, shop and a multi-sensory room that helps residents to relax and unwind.

Image courtesy of Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net