Four Yorkshire care homes get set to head back to the roaring forties

Mayor of Kirklees to join 80 care home residents and staff at summer party

Residents from not one, but four Yorkshire care homes are heading back to the summer of 1940 for one day only this August, as they get ready for a ‘roaring forties’ dance party.

The event will bring together residents from four Ideal Carehomes – Lydgate Lodge in Batley, Dewsbury’s Ashworth Grange, Greenacres in Meltham and Castleford’s Newfield Lodge, and will take place on Thursday 1 August at Lockwood Park’s Waterloo Suite.

The brainchild of care home lifestyle managers Colette Senior and Jessica Skirrow, partygoers will be able to dress up in authentic 1940s outfits and re-enact some of the decade’s most well-loved dances, with a little help from music and dance entertainers, The Andersons.

And also joining in the fun will be the new Mayor of Kirklees, Councillor Mumtaz Hussain.

Colette, lifestyle manager at Ashworth Grange care home, said: “Residents across all of our homes love to get together whenever they can, so we decided to organise a big event for them where they can really indulge their love of 1940s music and fashion.

“We’re already having great fun getting into the spirit of things – it’s been victory rolls for the ladies and flat tops for the gentleman and we’ve been listening to lots of swing and jive music! We’re delighted that the mayor will be joining us – it promises to be a really special day which will transport us all back to this amazing era.”

Meanwhile, the mayor added: “I’m thrilled to be attending the Ideal Carehomes 1940s summer dance party and can’t wait to meet the residents from across Batley, Dewsbury, Meltham and Castleford. This is a really positive and collaborative event for our community and I’m looking forward to hearing the many interesting stories that residents will no doubt have from their memories of this unique period in history.”

All four Ideal Carehomes offer 24-hour residential and dementia care in modern and luxurious settings with homes boasting cinema rooms, tea rooms, hair salons, spacious lounges and landscaped gardens.