Care home in Scotland gets a makeover

01 Jun Care home in Scotland gets a makeover

A residential care home in Innerleithen had its grounds revamped as part of a teambuilding community challenge for one of our clients.

The Project

It was all hands on deck on Thursday 19 May at St Ronan’s House as an eager crew of 64 banded together, Ground Force style.

Eight mammoth garden projects were delegated to our client’s teams. These included the installation of a sun house, new path to a tranquil seating area, sensory garden, and raised flower beds.

Before photo: about to start working on the raised beds

Tim, Events Director, helping the team dig

The completed raised beds area complete with new path

Team photo with the finished raised beds

A fence to go around the perimeter of the grounds was the top request from staff at St Ronan’s. Residents, especially those with dementia, will now be able to enjoy the garden in safety without the danger of getting lost.

Getting fencing posts into the ground

Building the perimeter fence

The determined troupes began work at 10.15am and finished at 4.45pm. It was a tough assignment to complete the tasks in only six and a half hours but it was accomplished.

Challenges

One team of ten had the biggest task of the day constructing a 5m x 4m summer house. They admirably gave up their shower, hotel check-in and pre-dinner drinks to complete the build.

Preparing for the summer house

Building in progress

The completed summer house

The Client Brief

Restoring the grounds at St Ronan’s was just one idea we proposed to our client for their teambuilding activity. Rather than opt for one of our more traditional products, a business game or a creative digital challenge such as filming a TV advert, our client decided to do something that would give back.

We proposed several community projects to fit the client brief to give time to a worthy cause within the Peebles area. In the end it was St Ronan’s House that caught the client’s attention.

About the Care Home

St Ronan’s House care home has 35 residents, many of whom suffer from dementia and Alzheimers. They also accommodate short breaks for older people and families on respite from their caring role.

Thanks to the work carried out by our client’s team, the residents have an added level of independence. The gardens are now accessible and safe for all the older people to enjoy through activities such as walking, planting and pruning.

Feedback

Cheryl Bremner, Manager at St Ronan’s, was thrilled at the work. On the day of the project she said: “We have been looking forward to this day immensely and everyone is very excited.

“The staff do a great job inside the home but the gardens have always been quite huge for us to tackle and while we’ve tried, we’ve never really been able to do that much with it.

“We are really proactive in promoting exercise and all residents are encouraged to go outside when the weather is good.

“Keeping active enhances the quality of life for residents by making outside areas attractive, vibrant and cognitively stimulating.

“We have no gardener and our budget only allows for the bare minimum, so the work being carried out is of vital importance.”

Ross Gardiner, our Events Manager, said: “We had a very successful day, all the delegates pulled their weight and everything that we asked them to complete was finished before the delegates left.

“We all gathered at the end along with some of the more able residents to look at the work they had achieved.

“A few of the residents and staff were quite emotional with tears and hugs.”

Happy residents viewing finished garden

What a difference a day makes!

Inspired?

To find out more about teambuilding for your company, check out our services page. Discuss your teambuilding requirements with us by email or call 0333 241 2890.