A WELLINGTON care home has celebrated African World Heritage Day in honour of its Nigerian, Zimbabwean, and South African staff members.

The annual event, which is held on May 5, aims to promote and celebrate the heritage and culture of the African continent and its communities.

This year, Linden House Nursing Home in Lower Westford recognised the celebration with support from Nigerian staff members, Justina Debra (a registered nurse) and George Oduenyi (a Linden House housekeeper).

Residents spent the morning colouring traditional African patterns, while Justina and George wore traditional Nigerian attire.

Justina brought in some of her head wraps and showed everyone the fabrics and how to wear them. The residents and staff then discussed and listened to some traditional music and George even performed a dance.

Justina said: “I appreciate the fact that Linden House Nursing Home not only recognise the importance of Africans but chose to celebrate African Heritage Day.

“It is memorable and will not be forgotten in a long time”.

A spokesperson for Linden House said: “Following the outbreak of Covid in 2020 it has been increasingly difficult to recruit staff from the UK into the care sector, and even 5 years on from Covid we are still not seeing applicants from the UK.

“Therefore, Linden House had to rely on recruiting staff from overseas (I think this is the same all over the country, not just in the Southwest).

“We now currently have staff from all over the world – from the UK, Poland Ukraine, Romania, India, Nepal, Philippines and from various African countries – South Africa, Zimbabwe and Nigeria.

“This has been a blessing and has led to a workforce that enriches Linden House with diverse skills, experiences and perspectives, and we feel that it is really important to celebrate that diversity.”