West Sussex care home residents team up with school for a DIY project

A care home in West Sussex has teamed up with a local pre-school and joined a nationwide campaign for International Repair Day (Saturday 18^th October).

Residents at Skylark House, on St Mark’s Lane, have been rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck into some hands-on DIY all in the name of sharing skills with the next generation.

As part of Care UK’s ‘Fixer Uppers’ programme, residents teamed up with Holbrook Community Pre-school to revive traditional repair skills, such as fixing furniture, mending clothes, and tackling small maintenance jobs. The initiative, launched in the run-up to International Repair Day, aims to celebrate the invaluable knowledge older generations can pass on while promoting sustainability.

At Skylark House, residents put their upcycling skills to the test by creating bee houses from reclaimed wood. Andy Dunn, Head of Maintenance at Skylark House, constructed the bee houses with an aim to facilitate pollination. Residents and the children from Holbrook Community Pre-school then took to work filling them with bee-friendly items, including stones and twigs – with one bee house now installed in the home’s garden, and the other at the pre-school.

Resident, Betty Atkinson, said: “I thoroughly enjoyed decorating and filling the bee houses. The children were so well behaved and we all had a lovely morning. I’m hoping we have lots of bees in our garden next year!”

Dora Woloszyn, Home Manager at Skylark House, said: “Whether it’s building, planting, or simply lending advice, there’s a real sense of pride and purpose that comes from creating something with your hands. We’re also really excited to be supporting our local wildlife with our creations, so we’re really looking forward to seeing a host of friendly birds and bees appear in our garden!

“It was wonderful to see everyone fully engaged and residents swapping stories, learning from one another, and genuinely enjoying the process.

“We’d like to thank Holbrook Community Pre-school for coming to the home to decorate the bird boxes and fill the bee houses. It was a brilliant afternoon, and we look forward to many more visits in the future.”

Skylark House has been designed to deliver the very best standards of care and enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives. The home provides full-time residential, nursing and dementia care, as well as short-term respite care, and boasts luxury facilities including a cinema, pub and hair and beauty salon.