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Golden shot for Colten Care residents raising a cuppa for Macmillan

Colten Care homes have hosted a series of Macmillan Coffee Mornings with an added Willy Wonka-style twist.
Residents, staff and visitors raising a mug at the annual charity get togethers were served freshly prepared homemade cakes and pastries in the traditional way.

But at each of Colten Care’s 21 homes, chefs baked one of the tasty treats as a ‘Golden Cup Cake’, containing a hidden layer of edible gold leaf through the middle only to be revealed when the cake was bitten into.

The lucky recipient won a bottle of bubbly, chocolates and a donation to Macmillan on their behalf.
“I couldn’t quite believe it was the golden one,” said a smiling Pamela Kately, the winner at Canford Chase in Poole.
More than 100 cup cakes were baked by Chef Izzy Turczyn-Kuzma at The Aldbury in Poole, with housekeeping colleague Michael Sheppard receiving the golden prize.

And at Brook View in West Moors, the cup cake winner was visitor Hannah Kirby who had only just arrived to visit her grandfather Harry.

Moments after making her coffee morning donation along with partner Leigh, Hannah bit into the cake and saw the gold, prompting cheers all round.

Hannah, who was then presented with her bottle of bubbly, said: “I didn’t realise what it was at first and wondered what I had found in the middle. It was a lovely surprise.”

As well as the Golden Cup Cake search, this year’s coffee mornings at Colten Care featured plenty of conversation and other fun. There were mufti days for staff, guess-the-weight-of-the-cake games, cake sales, singalongs and dances.

At The Aldbury, two musicians from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, violinist Jennifer Curiel and pianist and French horn player Kevin Pritchard, performed popular classical pieces and childhood songs such as Run Rabbit Run. Among the residents singing and dancing along were Mary Cooper, Elizabeth Kay and Win Clowerly.

Fellow resident at The Aldbury, Abdu ‘Hobi’ Sabih, did his bit to collect donations. He helped Companion Melissa Siat Caparros to push the fundraising cake trolley around the home, chatting with residents, staff and visitors.
Elaine Farrer, Colten Care’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “We always support the Macmillan Coffee Morning with all 21 of our homes taking part. It’s a fantastic community initiative. We invite families, friends and local contacts to come and join us for a coffee social and enjoy the fun. The prospect of winning a golden cupcake adds even more interest.”
The first Macmillan Coffee Morning took place in 1990 with the simple idea of encouraging people to donate the cost of their cuppa to Macmillan Cancer Support to help the charity’s work for people with cancer. Since then, more than £300 million has been raised.

According to Macmillan, one in two of us will face cancer. The charity’s aim is to help everyone with cancer to live life as fully as they can.

For more information and to donate, visit www.macmillan.org.uk.

Winchester care homes’ fete on the field raises £1,500 for disability charity

Two of our Winchester care homes joined forces to stage a family-friendly fete and raise £1,500 to help adults with learning disabilities.
Residents and staff from Abbotts Barton and St Catherines View held the community event on Dyson Drive off Worthy Road.

It was their fourth annual ‘fete on the field’, designed as a joint effort to provide residents and families with a fun experience while raising money for charity.

Among the visitors perusing the craft and gift stalls, sampling Colten Care cakes and taking in the live music was the Mayor of Winchester Angela Clear who also lent her help to announce the prize winners in the raffle.

The fete raised more than £1,450 for the Sutton Scotney-based Boaz Project, a therapeutic work community for adults with learning disabilities.

The project is both homes’ main nominated charity to support this year, with further fundraising events and initiatives planned over the autumn and winter.

Residents from the homes spoke about how much they enjoyed the fun of attending the fete and spending time with friends, family and neighbours.

Rosemary Smale said: “It was a lovely event and the weather held for the afternoon.”

Sheila Thompson said: “I was so pleased about the money raised for the charity.”

Dee Lovewell, Home Manager of Abbotts Barton, which is just yards from Dyson Drive, said: “Neighbours told us they were pleased that the field was put to good use and that we had laid on such as inviting event, all in the aid of the Boaz Project.
“We thank the Mayor for attending with such great enthusiasm, joining in with the activities and helping to ensure the raffle prizes were drawn.

“Together we have raised a fantastic amount of money. This will be presented to The Boaz Project, together with all the funds raised by smaller fundraising events throughout the year, towards Christmas.”

Our Winchester care homes’ day of fun boosts wildlife rescue charity

Our two Winchester care homes joined forces for a family-friendly fete in aid of a charity that rescues sick and injured animals and birds.
Dozens of visitors were welcomed by residents and staff from Abbotts Barton and St Catherines View with the fun get-together raising more than £1,600, an amount described as an “incredible effort” by beneficiary Hart Wildlife Rescue.

The fete, held on the green in Dyson Drive off Worthy Road, just yards from Abbotts Barton, featured children’s games, stalls selling cakes, plants and handmade gift items, a coconut shy, a barbecue, a tombola and the chance to see inside a fire engine.
Abbotts Barton resident Rosemary Smale, who welcomed visitors to her stall selling handmade glassware, said: “The fete was a great success and it was busy for the whole duration. We had a fine day so we were lucky as we had thought the weather might not hold up.”

When told the fete had raised £1,641.84, Paul Michael Reynolds, Hart Wildlife Hospital Manager said: “That is an incredible effort, very well done and thank you so much for raising the money.”

With its hospital located in Medstead near Alton, Hart Wildlife Rescue provides rescue, treatment and rehabilitation for wildlife from all over Hampshire and neighbouring counties. The charity currently deals with more than 3,000 casualties every year, a figure that is increasingly annually.

Colten Care’s two Winchester care homes also staged a fete on the Dyson Drive green last year, raising around £1,000 for MHA Communities Winchester, a charity that helps older people in the community to live well.
Abbotts Barton Home Manager Dee Lovewell said: “Our residents and team needed no encouragement to stage another fete this year. We all loved taking part and supporting Hart Wildlife.”
Vanda Baker, Dee’s opposite number at St Catherines View, said: “It was lovely to organise another successful fundraising event, surpassing our total from last year and having great fun at the same time.”

Our Winchester care homes raise £3,000 for older people’s community charity

Our homes have together raised more than £3,000 for a charity that helps older people in the community to live well.
Colten Care homes Abbotts Barton and St Catherines View staged a series of fundraising events for MHA Communities Winchester after both choosing it as their charity of the year.

The biggest single moneyspinner was a late summer fete held on a green off Worthy Road, just yards from Abbotts Barton.

The event, attended by the Mayor of Winchester Vivian Achwal and featuring live music, children’s games and a sale of plants arranged by residents of both homes, raised more than £1,200 for the campaign last September.

Another successful initiative was a fun ploy involving the ‘arrest and detention’ of a nurse at Abbotts Barton, Joby Varghese Thekken Vazhakala.

He was ‘taken into custody’ by resident and ex-policeman John Arbor and ‘formally charged’ with ‘serious offences’ such as ‘smiling too much’ and ‘not having any grey hair at his age’.

As news spread, residents, colleagues and community contacts were invited to pledge contributions to a ‘bail fund’ enabling Joby to be released after a couple of hours of wearing a prison uniform, peeling potatoes for the Abbotts Barton kitchen and shredding paper for the home’s administration team. More than £450 was raised with Joby joking on his release: “It was all for a good cause but I never want to peel another potato again!”

Staff from both homes also dressed up and took part in a cross-town Santa vs Elves race at Christmas 2021. The aim was to see who could reach each other’s home first.

The St Catherines View team ran from their starting point in Stanmore Lane with the Abbotts Barton competitors coming in the opposite direction from Worthy Road.
Speaking at a cheque presentation to round off the homes’ campaign, Abbotts Barton resident Mavis Borlase said: “I’m thrilled about the amount raised and I hope the charity can make great use of the money.”
In response, Carly Ratcliffe, Administrator at MHA Communities Winchester, said: “We are very grateful to both Colten Care Abbotts Barton and St Catherines View for their fundraising efforts this last year. This money will go a long way to supporting older people living independently across the Winchester district and enable us to continue to offer a variety of exciting and fulfilling social activities in their local communities.”

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