Care home's 'emotional' drive-thru reunites residents with families after months apart

A care home’s 'emotional' drive thru has seen 30 families reunited in a parade of cars which drove by to let residents safely see their families, after months apart due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Gracewell of Bookham care home in Leatherhead came up with the idea to get families of residents to decorate their cars with messages and drive up to the care home to have a socially distanced chat.

Families were asked to stay in their cars and care home residents were able to speak to their loved ones while rock n'roll music was played.

Elvis Presley's ‘Always on my mind’ and rock n' roll music was played by care workers as the cars paraded past residents, who chatted with a glass of champagne in the sun.

Vicky Radmore, home admissions advisor at Gracewell of Bookham, said: “Families really rose to the occasion. Cars were decorated and had messages from grandchildren and relatives on the cars.

“We were really lucky with the weather, it was a beautiful day. Residents were sipping champagne and waving flags. The look on their faces when they saw their families. It was really emotional.”

Judi Willcocks, daughter of a resident, said: “What a fabulous idea and what a great way to see our loved ones at this time. Everything appeared seamless. There must have been so much work put into it. It was magical”.

Resident Doug Fairman said: “We had a fantastic afternoon, just what we needed at this time, thank you for the team who arranged the afternoon.”

Ms Radmore added: “We wanted to do something special for our residents and their loved ones and you could see by all the smiling faces that everybody had a fantastic time.

“I think we’ve managed the lockdown exceptionally well here, there is still a lot of meaningful activities taking place and everyone is in high spirits.”

The trend maybe catching on, as the care home is not alone when it comes to drive-thru family visits.

Sefton Hall care home in Dawlish, Devon used PPE, time-slots and separate 'resident' stations to allow families to see residents from the safety of their cars after eight weeks apart.

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