Doorstep carols, Christmas markets and reindeers cheer care home residents

Care home residents across the UK are rehearsing to belt out some Christmas tunes and are inviting the public to join them in ‘Doorstep Carols’ - Britain’s biggest annual caroling sing-along on 15 December.

Residents of Care UK’s Tor-Na-Dee on the outskirts of Aberdeen, Scotland, have been rehearsing festive songs and are calling on their neighbours to sing with them by heading to their front doors at 6pm this Wednesday.

Doorstep Carols encourages the nation to open their front doors to stand and sing to Christmas carols and festive pop songs. Last year’s event, led to over 125,000 people singing on their doorsteps.

Care UK is an official partner of the annual sing song, at least a third of the 150 care homes operated by the group looking to take part.

Maureen Barrett, care home manager at Tor-Na-Dee, said: “We are so excited to be taking part in Doorstep Carols this year here at Tor-Na-Dee.

“Residents and team members have spent the last few weeks perfecting their singing ahead of the event.

“Singing can be incredibly beneficial, especially for older people, as music and sound is closely linked to memory recall."

Residents at Appleby House in Epsom are also busy rehearsing carols. To strengthen their choir and appeal to a much younger audience, residents at Appleby House will be joined by primary school children for a socially-distanced singing collaboration.

Shona Bradbury, care home manager at Appleby House said: “Everyone at Appleby House is looking forward to spreading some festive cheer, and we are looking forward to seeing as many local people as possible come out on their own doorsteps to join in.”

Meanwhile, reindeers and mince pies came to the doorstep of an Edinburgh care home as the city’s famous Christmas market stalls came to town.

Care staff arranged for the stalls to sell hot drinks and Christmas gifts as well as visit from Santa and his reindeers to bring seasonal cheer to residents .

The event saw 150 guests invited to participate and more than £500 was raised for dementia charity Alzheimer's Scotland.

Residents at Cramond Residence watched as fellow resident Dorothy McDermott officially switched on the Christmas lights.

Dorothy McDermott called the reindeers a nice “surprise”.

Dorothy McDermott said: “The market and celebrations have really got everyone into the festive spirit – we even had a surprise visit from some reindeers. “It was a really enjoyable afternoon which felt even more special due to the lack of celebrations last year as a result of the pandemic restrictions.”

The care home's head of maintenance, Billy Early was given the job of constructing the stalls and arranging the logistics of the special event – which attracted more than 150 guests from the surrounding area.

Billy Early said: “The past few weeks have been a change to my normal day-to-day tasks but it’s been really nice to work on a project which means a lot to everyone at the home.

“The atmosphere around the home in the lead up to the event has been really positive and it’s nice to see everyone come together.”

Christian Daraio, client liaison manager at Cramond Residence which can care for up to 74 residents, said: “This year the team at Cramond Residence has been really keen to put on a host of celebrations involving the community as everyone missed out last year.

“It’s a delight to be back hosting events like the Christmas market and light switch where we can have members of the public back interacting with our residents in accordance with current Covid-19 guidelines. We love being part of the community so it is always nice to give something back."

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