Gibraltar Nursing Home recently hosted their annual Summer Festival, a day that brought together residents (known as family members), relatives, team members, and the wider community in a celebration of fun and community.

Weeks in the making, the festival came to life through the shared efforts and spirit of the Monmouth community. Local shop owners kindly set up stalls featuring handmade jewellery, crocheted pieces, and other crafts, while family members joined in by creating colourful windsocks and painting sculptures to brighten the day. Any contributions raised will help support future activities and celebrations for family members.

The festival held in the grounds of the home was transformed with bunting, gazebos and hay bales (generously provided by a family member’s husband) to create an animal petting area – where children and adults alike met a meerkat, skunk, owl, guinea pigs, and a tortoise, courtesy of Animals Interactive.

The day was full of wonderful highlights, beginning with singer Christine in the Pillars Restaurant. Dressed in 1940’s style, Christine entertained beautifully, joined as always by her husband. We first met her when she helped with our Holy Communion and learned about her entertaining skills! She will return on September 26th for our Macmillan Cake Bake Day, when we’ll host a barbeque and cake sale alongside her performance.

Christine was followed by Sam, granddaughter of a family member who sadly passed away recently. Sam sang for us as a heartfelt thank you for the care given to her Grandmother, and kept the music flowing perfectly.

Later, Tracey Evan’s (Team Member) enthusiasm shone through as she hosted the raffle draw, having gathered fantastic prizes from local shops and businesses, including hampers, vouchers, and dining experiences. Right after the raffle, everyone enjoyed the fun of the ‘Name the Bear’ competition, which brought plenty of smiles and laughter.

Meanwhile, there was a BBQ, ice cream stall and cake table, alongside an activity corner, offering pebble painting, lucky dips, and temporary tattoos. Home Administrator Bridget took on the role of face painter, creating butterfly, tiger and rainbow looks to name a few, whilst Care Assistant Batul created henna tattoos with ink brought from India!

Celebrating Dedication and Togetherness

Helping make the festival such a success was our ‘Creating Occupation in Gibraltar to Support Social Skills’ team. They bring people together each week through activities that spark creativity, give a sense of purpose and encourage social interaction - much like the hobbies and get-togethers you’d enjoy at home with family and friends.

For Gibraltar Nursing Home, the annual festival was about much more than entertainment, it was an opportunity to strengthen the connections between family members, their relatives, the team, and the wider Monmouth community. Bridget shared ‘our summer festival is an inclusive day where all ages are welcome and we can have fun and laugh together, the idea behind the event was to create a festival rather than a traditional fete, the word ‘festival’ capturing the happiness and energy that we wanted to share. Thank you to all who contributed to the day’