Salisbury care home residents team up with local children to bring back favourite recipes

A care home in Salisbury has teamed up with local children and joined a nationwide campaign to save traditional recipes from being forgotten.  

A poll of 2,000 adults carried out by Care UK, which operates Salisbury Manor, on Shapland Close, found almost two-thirds (65%) of the nation no longer use family recipes that have been handed down through the generations, however, 43% of people surveyed are keen to save them. 

In a bid to prevent family recipes passed down through generations from being lost forever, Care UK has launched a free downloadable recipe book – Recipes to Remember, which features recipes shared by care home residents across the UK. From food enjoyed during World War Two to quirky desserts from the 1970s, the book includes residents’ favourite foods, alongside recipes tailored to support older people by Care UK’s award-winning chefs. 

Keen to keep their recipes bubbling away in Salisbury for many years to come, residents from Salisbury Manor have rolled up their sleeves and donned their aprons, with team members children and grandchildren to show just how tasty their food favourites from the past are.  

In a special baking session at the home, resident Barbra, aged 91, enjoyed teaching children, Willow and Spencer, how to bake her family’s bread and butter pudding.

Barbra said: “I was so happy to teach the children how to make the bread and butter pudding with custard. I was very impressed with my little helpers, and they were very well-behaved students.”

Skye Williams, General Manager at Salisbury Manor, said: “We’ve certainly been whipping up some treats here at Salisbury Manor as we headed to the kitchen to revisit residents’ food favourites from decades gone by. 

“Regardless of age, food plays an important part in all of our lives, and there’s something special about the way the senses have the ability to evoke happy memories and emotions – which is why keeping old family recipes bubbling away and sharing them with younger generations is so important. 

“Everyone had a great time talking about their favourite foods – and seeing the children baking a classic recipe shared by Barbra was certainly the cherry on the cake!” 

To find out more about Care UK’s Recipes to Remember initiative or to download your copy of the recipe book, please visit: careuk.com/recipes-to-remember

Recipes to RememberDesigned to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence, Salisbury Manor incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities. The home provides full-time residential care, nursing care, dementia care and respite care. The layout of the building is configured into a series of individual suites, each having a dedicated lounge/dining room to help facilitate the creation of close-knit communities.