A County Armagh care home is set to host a Summer Fayre to celebrate the emergence from the COVID Pandemic.
Fairlawns Care Home, which is based on the Drumcairn Road in Armagh, are running the event this Saturday (June 10) from 11am to 1pm.
Family, friends and members of the public are all invited to the gathering, which will include: music, ice cream, scones, tea & coffee and a treasure hunt. There will also be crafts that have been made by the residents.
“It’s just a couple of hours to celebrate that we’ve emerged from COVID,” said Jeanette Alger, from Fairlawns.
She says that it has been a “tough three years” for the residents and staff of the home due to the pandemic.
Explained Jeanette: “At Christmas time none of the residents were allowed to go home for Christmas because of the fact that we had an outbreak of COVID in the home. We had to put emergency measures in place to allow care partners in the home to come and visit them on Christmas.
“It’s been tough for the them the last number of years.”
She adds that the home is using the event, which is the first event held in the home since pandemic restrictions were lifted, to try and “get back to normal”.
“We’ve been precluded from lots of stuff. We used to have carol singers in and we couldn’t have them for the last three years. We also had a school partnership programme in place but we haven’t been able to have the children in to visit in the home.
“We’ve only just started again with the pastoral care because there was nobody allowed in unless they were a medical professional. It was tough.”
COVID restrictions have only been lifted within care homes in recent months, with the event to be a celebration of Fairlawns emerging through the pandemic.
“There has been some great teamwork by the staff. I just want the staff and the clients to be able to celebrate that we’ve emerged from COVID. As far as we’re concerned, it’s not over but we’ve emerged on the other side,” Jeanette added.
