Cake, coffee and carbon neutrality for Newbury's Falkland Grange care home
A NEWBURY care home celebrated becoming carbon neutral and held a coffee and cake event to raise money for charity last week.
On May 19, Falkland Grange Care Home, situated just off Monks Lane, celebrated its newly accredited carbon neutral status by hosting a small tree planting ceremony which it tied into a coffee and cake event for Dementia Action Week.
The home, which provides support for residential, nursing and dementia care for 48 people, planted an evergreen tree in its garden in an outdoor ceremony attended by a small group of residents, staff and the mayor of Newbury, Billy Drummond.
Falkland Grange’s home manager, Carla Kell, commented: “We’re really proud of our new carbon neutral status and we wanted to mark this achievement by organising something special.
“The new tree will remind us of our positive contribution.
“We are also proud to have fundraised for the Alzheimer’s Society as their work is very close to the hearts of many at our home.”
Mr Drummond added: “It was a really lovely day and it is great that Falkland Grange has reached this fantastic milestone in becoming carbon neutral.”
The Coffee and Cake Drive Through initiative, held on the same day, raised money for Alzheimer’s Society and aimed to show that people are still able to live well with dementia.
Two carers crocheted forget-me-nots, which residents sewed onto aprons, table cloths and hats.
Residents and staff then wore the decorated aprons and hats while serving the coffee and cake to over 30 people, including families, friends and local businesses.
The care home does not yet know how much it raised for Alzheimer’s Society.
Falkland Grange opened in December 2019 and the tree ceremony and coffee and cake day was the first time it was able to hold a proper event since opening due to the pandemic.
The home is part of the Porthaven Care Home Group which achieved its carbon neutral status by supporting projects promoting sustainability and renewable energy, including planting a willow tree for each of its 800 residents at Grizebeck in the Lake District.
Porthaven also contributes to Musi River Hydro project in Indonesia, a hydro-electric power scheme which generates renewable energy for the national grid on the island of Sumatra.
