Residents living with dementia are to share the richness of their lives over the years with family, friends and team members as part of a Life History project.   

This weekend (Sunday March 4) sees the launch of ‘Clovers Cream Tea Sundays’, a regular activity which will see residents, their families and the Clover team spend a few hours together delving into the incredible lives experienced by those who live at Fernhill House.   

Memory care lead Paul Turvey explained: “It's a time for families to meet each other, share experiences and memories and most importantly, support each other.   

“Our Clover family are incredibly special to us and we are always trying to find new ways of providing the very best in person centred care. I am fascinated by the life history of our family of residents and believe it is of the utmost importance for us to understand a resident’s background in as much detail as possible, to really fine tune the perfect care for them.    

 “Our specially trained staff will be on hand to offer help and advice if needed – and provide the scones of course! We hope as many of our families possible will join us for the fun and laughter and be part of creating great memories and something very special.”   

Paul has undergone a wide range of professional training courses aimed at understanding the needs of residents with particular requirements.   

He explained: “I allow myself to enter the world of the person with dementia, becoming part of their reality and I truly believe this helps me to deliver the best possible care I can.   

“It is important to me that residents have choice, which I give them from the moment they wake up. My ethos is ‘always make a difference to someone’s day.’ It’s important to find out what makes our residents tick and to create activities based around their likes and interests, such as organising pet therapy, encouraging them to use a relaxing sensory room or picking herbs from the garden.   

“The meal time experience is another opportunity to bond with residents, giving them the choice of what they would like to eat, allowing them to see and smell each meal separately and use plain brightly coloured plates to make it easier for them to see their food.   

“Fernhill House is a happy, homely place, rooms are personalised, memory boxes are filled with favourite things, walls are decorated with art residents can relate to.”