Chesterton Lodge welcomes special guests for grand opening of new amenities

Chesterton Lodge care home in Chesterton, celebrated the opening of its new resident shop and the upgrading of an onsite café into a specialised memory café with a party. The party was attended by residents, members of the local community and Councillor Barry Panter, and wife Beatrice – who also happen to be the Deputy Mayor of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Mayoress.

To mark the official opening, guests enjoyed light refreshments in Chesterton Lodge lounge before Councillor Panter cut a ceremonial ribbon to declare the shop and café open and gave a toast to celebrate the occasion. Guests then enjoyed some refreshments and light musical entertainment as well as fun activities including a raffle and guided tour of the home. 

Councillor Panter very much enjoyed the day, saying

I was delighted to be invited to Anchor’s Chesterton Lodge shop opening. From what I’ve seen and heard while chatting to residents, it would encourage me to come and live here, if or when, the time came!

I care passionately about what opportunities there are in local communities. The progression of Anchor’s Chesterton Lodge Café into a memory café sounds like a great resource to have for the Chesterton community.

Beatrice Panter, Deputy Mayoress said,

We’ve been made to feel very welcome. I’ve worked in care, and I can see that the residents are very happy and the team are very caring. 

It’s wonderful to hear that residents were included in the decision making about the shop and café. It’s a very good idea, it will give them independence.

Jamie Baird, Manager of Chesterton Lodge care home, said:

We’re delighted to open our new shop and deeply honoured that Councillor Panter, and his wife could join us! We’ve worked hard on the new facilities and my team did wonderful work to get everything looking so nice.

Thank you as well to our wonderful volunteers for helping to set up and manage the shop with us!

Two of those volunteers are residents Barbara Newman, and Rosemary Copnall. Barbara said she was excited to volunteer working at the shop and relive her experience working at a Little Chef for many years, saying:

Helping to manage our shop will no doubt bring back a lot of memories about working at The Little Chef!

To learn more about how our care homes build connections with their communities and how this helps residents form bonds with groups in the local area, click here.