Bya Court Nursing Home has been working with the community this Christmas to create an atmosphere in the home to help their residents with dementia.

Their Christmas tree with its homemade, cinnamon hearts fills the lounge with an old familiar smell of Christmas. Particularly important for those with dementia, where smell unlocks a special memory. 

Crafting Christmas decorations for the tree, that stood in the festival at the Methodist church offered a chance for all residents to feel connected and included in the town that they love. 

The visiting school children, singing Christmas carols, brought a resident to tears, happy tears as she remembered her five children at this age, when being a mother was her most important job. 

Christmas baking whilst drinking ‘egg nog’ and listening to Christmas hits from years gone by, brings nostalgic memories of family Christmases before age crept up on them. 

Christmas parties with all the trimmings and family visiting, light up our home and fill it with love. 

Gifts under the tree, a delicious turkey roast with new friends, and staff that are like family, make the new kind of Christmas special too. 

Quizzes and movies, a raffle for Hospice care, a visit with birds of prey and musical concerts are all on our Christmas timetable. 

Christmas at Bay Court is everyone’s favorite time of the year. We all work hard to bring in the old and the new! 

The train that runs around the base of the Christmas tree reminds residents of their precious childhood, Christmas memories.