Chester care home residents take part in Intergenerational Sing Along

Nine residents from Grosvenor Manor Care Centre, located on Hatchmere Drive, recently took part in a fantastic intergenerational sing along event in Chester.

The residents have been singing with pupils of all ages from local schools across Chester for the last few months, building up to the main performance, which took place at The Hammond, a performing arts school and college on Mannings Lane.

The project was co-ordinated by Amanda Wrigley from Live the Beat, a company she set up in 2017 to provide creative music classes that centre around learning and holistic development for children and adults.

The aim of the event was to bring young and old together to share their love for music and create an enhanced sense of community in Chester, with residents from five other care homes involved and children from local nurseries too.  The youngest at the event was 10 days old, whilst the eldest was 100 years old.

To ensure the event was a success, Amanda also worked with Hollie McDiarmid, a Social Prescribing Link Worker in Chester for Healthbox and Fountains Medical Practice, as well as Sue Egersdorff from Ready Generations.  Together they were able to liaise with the wellbeing coordinators within the care homes and source funding from the Cheshire Community Foundation for the fortnightly choir sessions.

Involved in the project from day one was Lisa Forth, Senior Wellbeing Coordinator at Grosvenor Manor.  She says: “This has been an amazing project, not only for our nine residents who took part in the performance, but for all residents at the home who were involved in the build up.  All residents have thoroughly enjoyed singing each week, learning new songs and practising their solo parts.

“We are very grateful to Amanda for creating the project and organising the event, which involved a total of six care homes in Chester, local schools and nurseries.  It was a huge undertaking, but the final performance at The Hammond, in front of family and friends, made it all so very worthwhile.

“The event, and indeed the whole project, has created fantastic memories for our residents.  What was initially a one-off project will now become a regular monthly activity within Grosvenor Manor, with Amanda and local schools visiting the home to sing with residents.”

Amanda Wrigley, adds: “Bringing children and the older generation together has shown to have huge health and wellbeing benefits, so I was keen to arrange an intergenerational sing along event in Chester.  The residents really came alive when they were singing, and interacting with children, which was wonderful to see.

“I’m delighted that Boughton Heath Academy and Kids Planet Great Boughton will remain our music and singing partners, allowing us to continue the regular sing along sessions at Grosvenor Manor.”

Rebecca Pates, wellbeing assistant at Grosvenor Manor, concludes: “The feedback we have received from relatives of the residents involved has been incredible.  They have been blown away by the effort put in by all and how much enjoyment their loved ones have gained from the project.  It’s super news that we can continue to work with Amanda on a monthly basis within Grosvenor Manor.”

Part of New Care, one of the UK’s leading care home providers, Grosvenor Manor is a stunning 81 bed state-of-the-art care facility offering individual, person-centred residential, dementia and 24 hour nursing care services.  For further information, please call 01244 305330 or visit www.newcarehomes.com.