Residents at a specialist dementia care home in Wellington have been celebrating an in-home Harvest Festival with something for everyone, from a harvest samba to craft activities where flowers, fruit and vegetables were the main ingredient. 

Richard Dempslake, activities co-ordinator for Camelot House and Lodge, said: “We’ve discovered that our residents aren’t that keen on Hallowe’en but they do love pumpkins, so we incorporated pumpkins into our Harvest Festival activities – hollowing them out and filling them with flowers. We achieved some pretty spectacular results! 

“We held a proper Harvest Festival service, with our lounges set up like a church and a variety of fruit and vegetables on display. 

“Our seasonal display was a big hit, and we quizzed residents on the produce and also had a taster session, which they loved. 

“For the service we sang the harvest hymns people told us were their favourites - ‘All things bright and beautiful’ and ‘We plough the fields and scatter’.  

“The residents also requested ‘Cauliflower fluffy’ and ‘Harvest samba’ – which are a bit less traditional but both great fun. 

“Since we have a number of residents who are unable to leave their rooms at the moment, we had mini-services just for them, because we think it’s so important to keep everyone engaged. And we had some very appreciative feedback on these. 

“After the service we had a lovely tea party serving warm fruit pies – apple, blackcurrant and apple, or cherry – with cream for those who like it.”