Move for Care

The gardens at each of C&C’s four care homes provide a beautiful space for our residents to engage with nature and the outside world, but there’s more we’ve wanted to do with them. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to provide an active stimulating space within the grounds of our homes, for the benefit of all residents, and especially those with dementia. Therefore, as a fundraising initiative for 2022, we planned to redesign and enhance the current features of areas within our gardens to create ‘sensory gardens’.

A sensory garden provides a therapeutic outdoor space for relaxation and interactive games benefiting those with complex needs, mobility difficulties and sensory impairments. It helps improve their physical fitness, health, mood, and cognition.

The sensory gardens will feature:

• sensory musical equipment,
• raised herb and scented flower beds,
• a wildlife friendly area,
• green houses,
• small water elements.

In order to make these sensory gardens a reality, C&C has raised £25,000 during January and February 2022 as a result of its 'Move for Care' initiative.

Between 4 January and 28 February, we undertook a two month-long step challenge to encourage C&C residents, colleagues, and partners and other supporters to move for care. We undertook this challenge to raise awareness of that extra mile our carers walk daily to support our residents, while encouraging people themselves to keep moving and stay active.

Participants were encouraged to pledge a number of steps for the challenge, per day, week or month. The resident and staff members who clocked up the most steps over the period won a special prize (see details below for prizewinners). C&C smashed its initial 9.5 million steps target (equating to over 3,300 miles) and recorded a total of 14 million steps (around 5,000 miles) by the end of February.

Between 31 January and 11 February, we also held a danceathon, comprising in-person and virtual dance activities along with 2 dedicated Facebook Live events for all to engage in.

Congratulations to all C&C residents, family and friends, sponsors and staff members who took part in Move for Care. The individual winners were:

- Kate Hoskins (Central Office/Housing colleague)

- Hollie Lavender (Care colleague)

- Anne Moor (Housing resident)

- Pamela Swingler (Care resident)

- Ann Bultis (Care resident runner-up)

- Ruth Hanmer (Family and friends)

- Matthew Murray (Sponsor)

- Tim Kirrage (Sponsor runner-up)