Competition brings rainbows to care home in lockdown

A care home in Skegness is reminding its elderly residents there will be a rainbow after lockdown by filling corridors with them.
By Chrissie Redford
Published 25th Apr 2020, 12:27 BST
A resident called Kath at Barratt Court with some of the Rainbow entries already received.A resident called Kath at Barratt Court with some of the Rainbow entries already received.
A resident called Kath at Barratt Court with some of the Rainbow entries already received.

Barratt Court is holding a competition for children aged six to 12 to create pictures or write poems with a rainbow theme.

Prizes have been donated by the units in the building, including The Central Café, Barnet Babes Hairdressing Salon, Dee's Convenience Store, Beachside Cleaning and Walnut Care. Local Craft Charity Art of Stone has also donated some stunning hand painted rainbow rocks and Barratt Court donated two artists sets.

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Hayley Cotton, Extra Care Scheme Officer. said: "We are coping fairly well now that we are in a different kind of routine and the residents are doing a superb job of social distancing and following the government guidelines.

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Hayley with resident Jill before lockdown. Now opportunities for socialising have stopped, Barratt Court is finding other ways to lift residents spirits while keeping them safe.Hayley with resident Jill before lockdown. Now opportunities for socialising have stopped, Barratt Court is finding other ways to lift residents spirits while keeping them safe.
Hayley with resident Jill before lockdown. Now opportunities for socialising have stopped, Barratt Court is finding other ways to lift residents spirits while keeping them safe.

"We are extremely lucky that we have had no cases of Covid-19 in the building which is a reflection on how hard everyone is working to stay safe.

"Barratt Court is an Independent Living Scheme with Extra Care so the care staff are always on site and also deliver care outside of the building in the community.

"We also have a hairdressers, shop and café which are open to the public.

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"As well as these, we have local groups coming to the building every day to use our extra rooms so Barratt Court is a popular community hub.

"Obviously, all the groups were suspended, the hairdressers closed, as did the café and the shop went to limited hours.

"I also had to close the communal lounge where tenants enjoy watching television, having coffee and socialising every day.

"The building was so quiet it had an eerie feel about it so I tried to think of ways to cheer it up, but at the same time follow the social distancing guidelines.

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"It then occurred to me that there were also children stuck at home trying to fill their time so I thought it would be nice to use the trending Rainbow theme and hold some kind of competiton which the tenants could enjoy and help judge.

"It was then that the idea became a rainbow drawing or a rainbow poem."

The closing date is 1st May and winners will be announced on May 4.

Entries can be inboxed to the Barratt Court Facebook page or emailed to [email protected]