Borough shows its caring side as special events mark national open day

Care homes across the borough celebrated National Care Home Open Day in style with special events, celebrations and parties for residents, staff and visitors.

Dozens of care homes took part, with themed garden and fancy-dress parties, quizzes, art and craft displays, live music and much more.

Residents at Rosemary Care Home in Milnrow had a surprise when Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, and Councillor Allen Brett, leader of Rochdale Borough Council, paid a visit.

The pair saw at first hand the home’s innovative approach to supporting residents, which includes a special dementia-friendly room, pet hens to help improve residents’ wellbeing, a nostalgic shopping area and a dedicated team of staff providing high quality care for the home’s 24 residents.

National Care Home Open Day encourages homes to open their doors to the local community and celebrate the work they do to support older and vulnerable people.

Local care homes that supported the day included Heywood Court, Springbank, Marland Court, Half Acre, and Oaklands.

Councillor Brett said: “I really enjoyed the visit to Rosemary Care Home, seeing at first hand a really well-run home which provides an extremely good standard of care for its residents.

“The home has a really welcoming atmosphere and has clearly taken a great deal of time and effort to create such a caring, supportive and friendly environment for residents.

“Many thanks to Andy Burnham for visiting and to staff for taking the time and effort to tell us about the home’s fantastic facilities and caring approach.”

Francesca Hawley, manager of Rosemary Care Home, said: “I am proud of the services we are delivering for our residents and it was great to showcase our home to the Mayor of Manchester and the leader of Rochdale Borough Council.

“The residents were thrilled to have some special guests visiting and I would like to thank Allen and Andy for engaging and chatting with residents throughout the afternoon.

“Our open day was a great success and we are already planning our next themed event. A huge thanks to my wonderful team of staff for making the day such a success story.”

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/128848/barley-view-opens-its-doors-for-care-home-open-day