School children and the Snow Queen make Christmas special for Kingsleigh

Home news

Dec 07, 2011

Residents and staff at Care UK’s Kingsleigh home are busy creating a winter wonderland around a Snow Queen theme as they get ready for a Christmas to remember.

On Wednesday 7th December, children from Kingsfield School, Woking, will be visiting the home to sing carols and new Christmas songs, written by the school, to the 67 residents and their relatives.

Pauline Dolan, the home’s activities co-ordinator, said: “The residents love having the children here. They really enjoy joining in with the carols and they love talking to the children.”

On Wednesday 14th December the residents will be visiting the children at their school for a special performance of the Nativity play. Pauline said: “This has become quite a tradition for us and the school. Everyone who comes along has a wonderful time and it sparks lots of memories for our residents of their own childhoods.”

The home provides personalised residential care for older people who are physically frail or those with dementia. Stimulating memories is important in keeping people with dementia active and independent and Pauline and the staff at Kingsleigh have been working with residents to capture their Christmas memories in memory books. Pauline explained:

“Memory books help us to understand more about what residents’ lives have been like before they joined us and it helps us to understand what they enjoy doing.”

The Snow Queen proved to be a popular memory with many of the residents, so Pauline and the team have been helping them to create decorations for the home around the story. She said: “It looks great. We have our Christmas party on Monday 19th December and I’m sure all the relatives and visitors will love the winter wonderland.”