An award-winning Derby nursing home is opening up its doors for lunch and games sessions for the wider community to enjoy alongside residents.
Brookfields Private Nursing Home on Burton Road is offering people the chance to enjoy a home-cooked three course lunch prepared by its experienced chef, before staying on with residents to chat and enjoy an afternoon of game-playing and company.
The home is opening its sessions on three days a week from Tuesday to Thursday.
Visitors on Tuesday will be able to get their dabbers ready for bingo after lunch, while Thursday’s attendees will enjoy a game of ‘play your cards right’ – made famous on TV in the 1980s.
The Wednesday session includes Brookfields’ legendary cutthroat quiz – in which the nursing home’s residents and staff are divided into two teams and their general knowledge put to the test by the home’s ‘quizmaster’ Georgia Parsisson.
Georgia, who has been working at the nursing home for several years alongside her PHD studies in history at The University of Leicester, said the venture from Brookfields could be a great way of helping carers get some respite during the week, as well as providing company for older people who may be living on their own.
The weekly quiz is participated in by residents and staff and sees the home divided into two teams who unleash their competitive side by attempting to answer Georgia’s fiendish questions.
She said: “Opening up to the community like this could help people have some relief if they are carers. Even just three hours a week gives them a bit of time when they could go to the hairdressers perhaps. They can leave their partner and know they are safe and being cared for.
“Also, this is good for people who are living on their own and want some company. A lot of people see it as a big step to come into a nursing home and it can be quite daunting. If they want to come in or if they are thinking about it, they can do this and test the waters.”
Georgia said she had seen first hand how valuable game playing and the weekly quiz could be for an elderly person’s mental wellbeing.
“People say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks but that’s completely wrong,” she said. “Just because you’re in your 90s, that doesn’t mean you have to stop learning. “
Meals at Brookfields are prepared by catering manager Simon Pleydell who comes to the nursing home following a career as a chef.
Simon, who has catered for former Prime Minister Tony Blair, ex Royal Family member Captain Mark Phillips, top financiers at exclusive events in the City of London, and more recently ran the café at Derby Cathedral, said he was passionate about ensuring that Brookfields’ elderly residents enjoyed their food and that it was well prepared and presented.
Simon said the home took great trouble to discover residents’ food preferences to ensure they enjoyed their mealtimes, and he always made a cake for people’s birthdays.
He said: “We make sure we provide really good quality food here at Brookfields and it’s important to make sure it’s interesting for everybody, and that it’s what they want to eat.
“Just because someone is an older person it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take trouble to cater to a high standard. A resident might need food to be softer, for example, but it should still be cooked nicely and accurately.”
Kath Astill, whose sister Margaret Morris is a resident of Brookfields, said she enjoyed coming to take part in the quiz on Wednesdays.
“It’s competitive, but it’s good fun!” she said. “It’s a good way for residents to socialise – it’s wonderful at Brookfields.”
Brookfields owner Celeste Turner said: “We’re very happy to be launching our lunch and games sessions to the wider community. Whether you’re a carer who is looking for some respite during the week, you’re perhaps considering a move to a nursing home, or you just fancy coming along and enjoying the warmth and camaraderie of our environment for an afternoon, we will give you a warm welcome. Plus, there’s the chance to enjoy our legendary quiz!”
The project is starting during Loneliness Awareness Week which begins on June 9.
Those who want to enjoy lunch and games at Brookfields are being offered the chance of trying the first session free of charge, with sessions thereafter priced at £30.
Lunch includes soup of the day with a choice of two main courses and a pudding. Visitors are invited from 12 noon with activities taking place from 1.30pm to 3pm.
You can call Brookfields Nursing Home on 01332 343840 to find out more or to book a session.
For more information, contact Lucy Stephens at Penguin PR on 0771 983 9446 or email lucy@penguinpr.co.uk.
