Pat opens care home's Rainbow Tea Room
A building in the grounds of a care home has been transformed into a popular facility for residents.
And an informal socially-distanced opening of the Rainbow Tea Room at Lambton House in the Fence Houses area has been carried out by Alzheimer's Society champion Pat Boyes.
Also in attendance were members of the care team, residents and local independent councillor Alan Bell (Durham County Council), representing the local community.
When the visitors had left the premises, set in the dementia-friendly sensory garden, a group of residents enjoyed an afternoon tea in the building.
Lambton House registered manager Marie Grant said: “We have been unable to take our residents to the local community centre for tea andcoffeesincethehomewas locked down in March.
"So we decided to create an ‘old fashioned tearoom’ for residents here in our beautiful gardens.
“The building was previously used as an accounts office and training room. Our maintenance team have done a fantastic job.
“The exterior is painted seagrass green, which is a restful and relaxing colour. The decor and colours inside the tea room are dementiafriendly and we will be playing appropriate sensory and calming background music whilst our residents enjoy a chat and social time together.
“We named it the Rainbow Tea Room as we felt it was very appropriate at this time. The rainbow is a symbol of hope and promise of better times to come.
“Early feedback from families and friends on our Facebook page has been extremely good.”