Care home resident becomes a mixologist at age of 80

An eighty-year-old care home resident discovered a passion for mixology when she spent the day mixing and tasting a whole host of cocktails at the Cosy Club in Norwich.

June Mowbray, who lives at York House care home, spent the day behind the bar being taught how to make a selection of drinks on their cocktail menu from Daiquiris to Espresso Martinis.

The mother of four said: “It was brilliant. I’ve not had much time to go gallivanting as I had to focus on providing for my children and working so I’ve never had much chance to do something just for me”.

“This was the first time in my life I’ve been able to do something just for myself.”

Fulfilling June’s wish is part of an initiative run by York House care home called the wishing box, where the home endeavours to make the residents’ wishes come true.

“Tasting all these cocktails and learning to make them, I never thought I’d get to do anything like that.

“It’s lovely that the staff here want to do this for all of us as individual people, and Meg at the cosy club was so good with me and so patient. I’d love to go back again,” added June.

“It’s wonderful that the other residents get to have their wishes granted too! Everyone’s very excited about it and everyone’s been lovely letting me ramble on about the experience. It’s going to be lovely to see their dreams come true too! It’s great as a lot of them have a story like mine and now their eyes are open and they can see what they’ve been missing out on all this time and do something for themselves,” she said.

June was born in Hackney in East London and lived there for the majority of her life. At 16 years old she got married in Bethnall Green and she and her husband went to their local cinema to see a film for their reception.

They had four children together, three boys and one daughter.

Her husband who she says was “the love of my life” died at age 48 and she was left to bring up her children alone.

A spokesperson for the care home said: “June came to Black Swan Care Group in September and has made a big impact on York House since she arrived as she’s quite a character. She is interested in fashion and one of her favourite things to do is buy clothes and look very glamorous.”

The Cosy Club kindly gifted June one of their exclusive copper engraved cocktail making kits.

“This means that June’s dream doesn’t have to be over as she’s now able to go back to the home, request the ingredients she needs and teach the other residents how to make her favourite drinks and be a barmaid whenever she likes,” added the spokesperson for the care home.

“We want to ensure that our residents have memorable and uplifting experiences whilst in our care, and just because you’re in a care home doesn’t mean you have to give up your aspirations and dreams.

“We have such wonderful residents at all of our homes and their happiness and care is of utmost importance to us, and we think putting in a little extra effort to give them experiences they’ll never forget is part and parcel of their care.”

click here for more details or to contact York House