Elderly put word out on the street for 1950s shops in care home

The chance to go shopping every day in a 1950s-style village high street without needing to step outside, has been given to residents at a care home in Stevenage.

Martin’s House care home has built a link to the past for its older residents with a shopping area inside the home.

The street was created after residents told staff they wanted a high street with a coffee shop, a greengrocer, post office and a sweet shop.

"Cough candies, fudge, rhubarb and custard, we've got all the old-fashioned sweets in the sweet shop. The residents recognise them and love coming to buy some", says care home manager Julie Churchill.

"It has made a difference. It's not just a blank canvas anymore, there's a purpose to residents walking down here now.

"The duty office is now a post office where they can come and collect their money for the shops.

"We'd love to get more shops.

"We have a gentleman here. He doesn't live with dementia and he couldn't understand the fuss about the street. "Then he saw the railway clock in the street and said 'Oh my god! That is brilliant. The date on that clock is the actual date that Paddington Station was opened.'

"I said 'that has jogged your memory, you remember the date.' "Now he's reading more about dementia to understand what we are doing.

The idea for the street comes from Dutch care specialist Eloy Van Hal, who developed in 2010 a safe village called Hogeweyk - often referred to as a dementia village.

It had a collection of 23 houses near Amsterdam, built around a central street and shopping area - with no medical equipment in sight.

Mr Van Hal’s methods call for elderly care homes to look as close to the outside world as possible. He has travelled the globe advising other countries on how to do it and a number of similar streets are planned across the UK.

Ravi Gidar, managing director of Gold Care Homes, which runs Martin’s House, for residents, many of who have mild to severe dementia, said: “We’ll keep listening to the suggestions from our people as the street grows. We want to create a vibrant community.”

Completed in late February, the shopping area comes with a telephone box and post box and has been dubbed ‘St Martin’s Square’ but Martin’s House is running a competition to come up with the most popular name.

One resident said: “It doesn’t feel like a care home with the amount of activities and community well-being aspects that are incorporated into our life."

Another resident said: “It’s nice to have a village feel to our home and activities that we can all join in."