Christmas Wreath Extravaganza
As a family-run care home group, we at Westgate Healthcare embed our family values into our company processes, people, innovations and events. We celebrate milestones, listen to ideas, empower and challenge our staff to reach their full potential, as a family would.
This December, we set our team a challenge of three Christmas-themed tasks that would awaken their creativity and fulfil the brief of ‘togetherness’. The Christmas competitions included wreath-making, carol singing and mince pie tasting!
We received a number of entries to the competition and saw photos of beautifully designed wreaths along with images of the residents crafting away, showing how they made them. It really made us smile to see the effort that was put in!
However, we did have to undertake the difficult task of choosing a winner, and this year we’re delighted to reveal that the Christmas wreath competition winner is St Pauls Care Centre, in Hemel Hempstead. St Pauls created a wreath covered in baubles which expands to an impressive 4-metres in length! But it was the inclusiveness behind the wreath-making that was even more remarkable…
The activities team at St Pauls found a thread on Facebook, asking the local community of Hemel Hempstead if they needed anything for Christmas. Once they submitted their bauble request, the response they received back was overwhelming, and it took a few evening trips to collect all the baubles from their community. Each day the activities team in the home would mix groups of residents and give them jobs to support the wreath-making.
Faye, Head of Activities, said: “We knew we had to go big. A normal wreath wouldn’t cut it, and we needed to do something that involved as many people as possible. I would like to formally thank Andre and Glen, our two maintenance men, for helping us hang our wreath on the outside of our building for the community that supported us to see”.
Juliana, Care Home Manager, said: “This award has made our Christmas complete! Our win is testament to the hard work and dedication from both our staff team and residents who worked incredibly hard to make the wreath, so we thank you, and wish you all a Merry Christmas!”
