Chester care home hosts upcycling café to give items a new lease of life

A care home in Chester has joined a nationwide campaign for International Repair Day.

Residents at Care UK’s Deewater Grange on Chester Road have been rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck into some hands-on DIY with the community.

As part of Care UK’s ‘Fixer Uppers’ programme, residents Marjorie Benson and Pru Shepherd-Welwyn have been encouraging the community to upcycle old items into handmade art, rather than throwing them away, by hosting a crafts-themed Friendship Cafe

During the event, residents welcomed the community to Deewater Grange for a special upcycling craft workshop, where Marjorie and Pru shared their techniques and top tips for transforming everyday items into unique pieces of art, all by hand. 

Donna Howard, Home Manager at Deewater Grange, said: ‘’Residents have so much life experience to share, and taking part in the ‘Fixer Uppers’ project has been an excellent way for them to inspire people to get creative. 

“Many residents – Marjorie and Pru included - learned to take old items and create something new in their younger years, so having the chance to revisit those skills has been incredibly rewarding.

“It was such a great afternoon, and it was wonderful to see everyone fully engaged and residents swapping stories, learning from one another, and genuinely enjoying the process of creating something by hand.’’

Launched in the approach to International Repair Day, the initiative aims to revive traditional repair skills – such as fixing furniture, mending clothes and tackling small maintenance jobs – and celebrate the invaluable knowledge older generations can pass on while promoting sustainability.

To find out more about Fixer Uppers, please visit: careuk.com/Fixer-Uppers 

Deewater Grange is a state-of-the-art care home which provides full-time residential, dementia and nursing care. The home has been designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence, and incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities, including its own café, bar, cinema, and a hair and beauty salon. 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.