Tea And Trivia With The Elderly: A Royal Affair!
ServiceSpace
--Mehwaesh Islam
3 minute read
Apr 13, 2011
 

Headline-grabbing royal weddings don’t come around that often, so it’s fair to say that the UK and the rest of the world is getting excited about the upcoming wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. We, at CharityFocus, surely aren't ones to be left out :)  So last Sunday, six of us teamed up to host a Royal Wedding-themed afternoon tea party at  St. Wilfrid's, a care home we have been visiting over the past few months. 

 
 
Over the past month we planned the logistics of the event and it all came together spectacularly on Sunday when we transformed the conservatory at St Wilfrid's for the party. Isabel, Priya and Mehwaesh helped decorate the room with the Union Jack flag, buntings, fresh flowers, and to set up the food and drinks tables ahead of the event. We even had love songs from the good old 50s playing in the background :)
 
 
We kicked off the afternoon by ushering in the residents into the lovely conservatory and serving them with welcome drinks of sherry and orange squash - all of which were well-received on the warm spring afternoon. Next we got competitive with a royal family themed quiz specially compiled by Jenny. Paras volunteered to be the Quiz Master and donned a Union Jack-themed royal jester's hat! The residents had a fantastic time racking their brains trying to remember facts like the year of Queen Elizabeth II's engagement and the length of the train of Princess Diana's wedding dress! The winning team was awarded a magnificent Union Jack flag with the picture of the Royal couple :)
 
The quiz was followed by our specially-themed Royal Raffle Draw, arranged by Jenny and Priya, and conducted by Paras. The raffle included prizes such as trinket boxes and ceramic mugs with photos of the royal wedding couple and a royal wedding themed calendar! This was a hit with the folks too!

Halfway through the party we began to serve tea and coffee with some delicious cakes, biscuits, sandwiches and canapes, all presented on cute little cake stands. Over the course of the afternoon, we chatted with the residents, listened to their stories and made them smile ;)
 
 
We were all saddened to hear about the demise of one of the residents, Noel, who used to love coming to our events and always showed a great personality! Paula reminisced that a particular comment by Noel in the run up to the end-of-year holiday season: ' Are you all fizzed up for Christmas?' aptly summed up his zest for life.
 
We wrapped up the day's event by clearing up the room and then having a circle of sharing in the lovely back garden to take advantage of the glorious spring sunshine.  Every volunteer was really touched by the experience and here's what some of them shared:

- Paras was delighted to be able to put a smile on the faces of the elderly residents and reflected on how events such as these help to keep him grounded

- Isabel enjoyed interacting with the elderly and initially found it quite tempting to talk to the more sociable residents but tried to make an effort to involve the shy ones as well

- Jenny and Jackie enjoyed catching up with the old residents and seeing new faces

- Mehwaesh loved seeing the residents' cheerful spirit and found their positive outlook inspiring

- Paula, the ultra-enthusiastic lifestyle coordinator at St Wilfrid's, told us how competitive activities help to bring out the best in the residents and how she has used the example of our group to teach another volunteering group on how to interact with the elderly and have a rewarding experience at the same time! :)



Thanks to all the volunteers who helped to put together this special event for the residents at St Wilfrid's! We are all super-excited about planning for future events with the elderly which might include a Wimbledon-themed summer party. So watch this space! :)

 

Posted by Mehwaesh Islam on Apr 13, 2011


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