A St Neots care home opened up its own in-house pub during lockdown and is now planning to put The Hillings’ Arms to good use during this spring and summer.
Home Manager Tracey Morris and Deputy Manager Donna Salter got the project off the ground after a number of the residents requested a bar area as they hadn’t been able to get out to local community pubs.
“St Neots well known for having a lot of pubs and the residents like to get out for drinks and meals and socialising when they can,” said Tracey.
“Residents wanted to have a bar/pub area in the home and we thought this was especially important when they were not going out of the home as much because of covid restrictions,” explained Tracey.
“So we had the bar made by someone in the local community. To begin with it was a kind of Tiki bar with a real summer feel which was used for a few summer events. Then we refined the design and feel of the bar and renamed it The Hillings’ Arms.”
The bar area, which is a great addition to one of a number of day rooms at the Eaton Socon home, has a karaoke machine and darts board, a small pool table, as well as an organ and a large TV. There are authentic pub drainers on the bar, bar towels and coasters, thanks to a member of the care team who approached a local pub for help..
“It has already been well used already and we have a couple of residents who love to sing,” added Tracey.
“At Christmas it was a lovely rendition of White Christmas along with Snowballs to drink all round.”
Other drinks which are popular with the residents are pale ale, Baileys, wine and a G and T plus The Hillings’ Arms has a great coffee machine as well as serving soft drinks.
“We will have lots of sporting events on the big television in the bar and it will be a key focus for our Queen’s Jubilee celebrations,” said Tracey. “Families are also looking forward to enjoying it with relatives
The Hillings is a purpose built residential home comprising of a number of wings arranged around courtyard gardens. The home has residents requiring both residential and dementia care. The Hillings is part of the Healthcare Homes family of 48 care homes and 11 homecare branches and is rated Good by the Care Quality Commission – CQC.
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