Publish date: 30 June 2022
Laura Flack, Modern Matron on Fern Ward and Heys Court, relives the excitement of the Jubilee weekend as they welcomed back relatives to join their celebrations for the first time since COVID-19:
"Jubilee celebrations took place on 2 and 3 June 2022 on Fern Ward and Heys Court.
It was our pleasure to be the first inpatient setting within local division to welcome back families to our ward settings. We were able to send personalised invites to one family member per service user to join us and enjoy live music over both days.
The Cheeky Charlies attended both Heys Court and Fern Ward on the Thursday and local singer Laura Smith provided more live music on the Friday.
Laura’s father was diagnosed with Young Onset Dementia and therefore it was very special for her to be able to provide entertainment for those with a similar diagnosis.
Families expressed their joy at being able to spend’ real quality time’ and enjoy something with their relative outside of restrictions. "It's been so lovely to be a part of to see them light up again” stated one relative.
Staff discussed how service users in both areas had ‘loved every minute’ of the live music, activities such as bingo and tombola, and enjoyed afternoon tea/buffet.
Laura Smith (vocalist) stated that it was amazing to see all our service users up and dancing and that she felt ‘very privileged to be able to be a part of our first celebrations post Covid.'
Just to mention a few that were responsible for making sure that these events were able to take place:
- The ward staff on both areas
- The IPC team
- The facilities management team and there staff
- The many people who contributed prizes / cakes etc
Special mention to activities coordinators Angela Williams and Debbie Carlin who went above and beyond to raise money for the celebrations, as well as Lynda Byrom and some of the FMA staff on Fern Ward who raised an awesome amount of money to give the service users the extra special treatment they deserve."
