What do you understand by family?
It seems to me that we are being bombarded with emotional tugging at the heart strings media statements about the necessity for families to be together over Christmas. Last year – pre Covid – I distinctly remember a bah humbug approach to Christmas with shock horror at money being spent unnecessarily on family.
So what is family? For our residents in either Castle Hill House Residential Home or Cedars Nursing Home family is where they live from day to day, Carers, nurses and hotel staff come and go, just as people do in families, but the core remains at the centre.
Recently some very frail residents at Castle Hill House have moved down the road to Cedars as they need more clinical support. What happened when each one went into the lounge? It was truly lovely to watch as they looked round, spotted friends from Castle Hill House and created their own “family” once again. The home where they live is their everyday family and seeing their blood relations from time to time is a real joy for most.
We don’t know the full implications of dementia from which many of our residents suffer. What we do know is how important it is for every day to be as full of happiness as we can make it which is something our talented staff do brilliantly.
Sara Jacson
Chair of Trustees
