Retro tea dance to recreate the 1950’s

Company news

Apr 20, 2012

Residents and visitors to Epsom’s Appleby House care home and Orchard Centre will be able to step back in time and get a real flavour of the fifties at a special tea dance today (April 20th).

There will be live 1950’s music, people dressed in 1950’s clothes and a buffet of food popular during that decade.

The will feature a custom-made pop up reminiscence room designed to evoke memories from a particular period.

One of the organisers, Elaine Carruthers, manager of The Orchard Centre which is an activity based club attached to Appleby House said: “Everyone is welcome. We have invited friends and relatives of the 75 residents and also sent out about 150 invitations to members of our local community including GPs, social services and many others.”

Elaine continued: “Care UK’s Head of Dementia Care, Maizie Mears-Owen arranged for us to have a demonstration of the reminiscence room for a day. They are made by a company called Rempod and come in a variety of designs recreating different rooms from different eras and we opted for the one which replicates a fifties dancehall. We will also be extending the theme to the rest of the activity room.”

“The aim is to spark memories of a particular time in people who are living with dementia and to help with reminiscence which is very therapeutic.”
The tea dance has also been organised by Appleby House manager Jeni Rushton and her deputy Lynne Rogers. It is the first time there has been a Rempod room on site although there are regular activities for residents which include the local community.

Elaine added: “We hope we have a good turnout as it should provide a fascinating snapshot of life in the 1950’s. It will also give people the chance to come and have a look at what we do here, see our home and day centre and meet our residents and team.”