Residents enjoy a nostalgic pop-up sweet shop at Elm Bank care home

The residents and staff at Elm Bank care home in Kettering were treated to a truly unique experience as they invited Rebecca from ‘Sweet Memories of Hadleigh’ to their home with her pop-up sweet shop.

Rebecca transported the residents back in time with the authentic sights, smells and the old classic tastes of confectionary from the past. It was a magical journey as she weighed out the sweets meticulously with her traditional scales, selling them by the quarter for the residents. There was jar after jar of beautifully coloured old-time favourites all set out so that residents could browse.

Resident, Pam, said: “My husband and I owned a shop, this was many years ago and this has really brought back some lovely memories for me. It is the weighing out of the sweets that I remember the most and all my favourites I want are here.”

Tina, Activities Co-ordinator said, “The residents had a truly wonderful time browsing through the extensive selection of sweets and it was beautiful to see the faces of our residents as they saw their old-time favourites. One particular sweet that caught the resident’s eyes was the “Sherbet Fountain”, all the residents had a story to tell about the sweet.”

Larisa Bledea, General Manager at Elm Bank said: “It was lovely to see everyone together, and enjoying this wonderful experience that Rebecca created for our residents. It really was a journey down memory lane and it was beautiful to hear our residents reminisce about when they were younger and how they remembered all the sweets that were on display.”

Our varied life enrichment programme keeps residents active, and provides a daily choice of engaging physical, mental and spiritual activities tailored to residents’ interests and abilities.

Elm Bank care home is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering personalised care across its care homes and hospitals. Elm Bank provides residential and dementia care for residents from respite care to long term stays.