Festive fun with community tree decorating
Residents of a specialist dementia care home in Wellington, Somerset, were among more than 30 groups to exhibit a decorated tree at the annual Christmas Tree Festival hosted by St Mary the Virgin Church in West Buckland.
The popular festive event saw the church filled with beautifully decorated trees from local groups, as well as other creative displays of work by talented locals, plus a chance to enjoy festive refreshments and support the church.
Harriet Burraston, activities co-ordinator at Camelot House and Lodge, said: “The West Buckland Christmas Tree Festival is great for community engagement, with local schools, businesses and a variety of other groups taking part, each creating their own unique tree.
“Our residents had such fun making their tree decorations out of salt dough and then painting them once they were cooked.
“Our tree also had wooden decorations which were coloured in by our talented ladies and gents.
“Once all the trees were up on display in the church, we took Liz Blatchford and Joan Smith, who both live with us at Camelot House and Lodge, over to see the final exhibition.
“They were really impressed by all the beautiful displays and were also most appreciative of the festive mince pies and hot chocolate, as well as having a great time doing a bit of shopping at the craft stalls that were there.
“It was lovely for our residents to be involved in this local community project, and we’d like to say a special thank you to Heather Bailey from the church who invited us and made our visit so wonderful.”
Camelot House and Lodge is run by award-winning dementia care provider Camelot Care who also runs other specialist homes in Bridgwater and Yeovil in Somerset, and Holsworthy and Plymouth in Devon.
