Oakleigh care home Christmas tree decorated by local community

Residents and staff at Oakleigh care home in Godstone have extended their thanks to members of the public for helping to decorate the care home’s Christmas tree.

The care team put up a Christmas tree in front of their entrance and invited members of the public to help put up decorations on the tree to kick off the festive season.

Although current circumstances have prevented Oakleigh from partaking in their usual Christmas communal activities, the tree decoration was organised as a way of ensuring that residents could still interact with the local community, albeit from a safe distance.

So last week, members of the public, wearing PPE and following social distancing guidelines, came to Oakleigh at certain times during the day to add decorations to the tree. At 5 pm, residents were then treated to a spectacle of the new tree being lit up at Oakleigh’s official Christmas lighting ceremony. 

Oakleigh resident John Cawley, 85, said:

It was lovely to see the lights come on and the tree looks absolutely beautiful! Christmas is one of my favourite times of year and to get a chance to do something for it even in such a tough time was really special for me.

The tree will stay up through the entirety of the Christmas period. Members of the public who took part were each given a “goodie bag” of homemade Christmas cards, Christmas decorations and chocolate gold coins for their time.

Stephanie Reeve, Manager of Oakleigh, was keen to highlight the public’s contribution:

A huge thank you to everyone who came to help decorate our Christmas tree, it was a lovely occasion and showed that despite the current challenges we can still celebrate in our own way. This is just one of the lovely things we have planned for our Christmas celebrations. Soon we will also be celebrating by having our mini Christmas parties and in-house pantomimes performed by the staff.

Oakleigh care home is well-known for its schedule of rewarding activities and its outstanding level of dementia care. Looking for a home for yourself or a loved one? Why not find out more about what Oakleigh has to offer? For further details, head over to our dedicated webpage or call 08000854214.