Residents living at Brookside extra care scheme in Ormskirk have been given a special project to fill their hearts this Valentine’s Day.
Colleagues from Your Housing Group, who own and manage the scheme, decided to shower their residents with love and care by setting up a Valentine’s board to allow everyone to share messages with each other at a time when they can’t be together.
Residents have been busy creating heart shaped memos to show their love and appreciation for one another – and their family and friends – of whom many are missing dearly through the pandemic.
One person who was delighted to hear of the Valentine’s activity was Betty, who recently lost her husband of 70 years. Upon hearing the news of the special noticeboard, she headed straight to reception to express how much the idea had touched her and asked if she could create a heart-warming message for her beloved husband Paddy.
Betty said, ‘I think the valentine’s day board is a lovely idea and so do my family. My Paddy would have loved this. I want to thank all of the staff for their help after Paddy passed away, they have all been wonderful’.
Couples living at Brookside were able to show their love for each other through leaving these special, heartfelt messages for one another. One resident, Mr Long, was delighted to know he could present his wife with a special message to declare his long-standing love for her, who accepted this note with a grateful smile.
Susan Thomas, Scheme Manager at Brookside, spoke of how the team had to ‘think outside the box’ in order to keep their residents engaged through the pandemic.
‘It’s been a real struggle for us all. As a team we are always looking for safe ways to let our residents know we are here to support them, we don’t want anyone to feel alone here at Brookside,’ she said.
The team have adapted their usual celebrations during the pandemic to help keep up spirits among residents. Last year they celebrated VE day with scone deliveries as well as mince pie trolly deliveries for Christmas.
‘This year we couldn’t let Valentines day go by without some way of letting our residents know we’re still here. What better way than a valentines board for everyone to share messaged to each other,’ Susan said.
Jessica Whiteside, RLS Officer, explained why the team decided to go ahead with this heartfelt idea this year: ‘We wanted to bring a little positivity into our scheme, our valentine’s day board has done just that!
‘Residents can leave little messages of encouragement for one another and let their friends and family know that they are thinking about them. It has gone down a storm’ she said.
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