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Residents at CHT Amberlea Care Home in Algies Bay were joined by friends and family for their Christmas party on December 10.
And they had one very special guest at the lunch – Santa Claus himself.
Care home manager David Halewood said it was beautiful to see all the families together with the residents for Christmas and enjoying themselves.
“It can be a real emotional tear when you send your mother or father into a care home and I think these events actually provide the reassurance that they made the right decision,” he said.
“For us, being able to chat with some of the family members and hear their perspective was important – we had some really great feedback.”
Halewood said Amberlea was very much about being part of the community.
“People here feel like this is their home, everyone gets to connect.
“Some of our residents don’t have their children here or they might be on their own over Christmas, so we actually become like part of their extended family.”
The Christmas lunch was the result of three months’ planning and wouldn’t have been possible without local volunteers helping out and coming in on a weekly basis in the lead up.
Halewood said the care home knocked it out of the park this year.
“Families had a really good time and loved the menu. It really came together with the catering team serving up ham, roast pork, fresh vegetables and Kiwi classics like pavlova for dessert.”
As well as the food, Santa was also in demand as he mingled during lunch and one plucky resident, Lorraine Lambert, even asked him for a kiss and he duly obliged.
“I didn’t need any mistletoe, I got to kiss Santa anyway,” she said.
