Residents and team members at Colten Care have united in a colourful display of solidarity to raise awareness of breast cancer and help fund research into the disease.
Our sister homes in Dorset and the New Forest staged a host of activities and events for the Wear It Pink campaign run nationally each year by charity Breast Cancer Now.

Residents at Court Lodge in Lymington, Kingfishers in New Milton and Amberwood House in Ferndown were among those dressing up in pink and having fun with hands-on fundraising games and get-togethers.

At Court Lodge, Home Manager Rebecca Hannam and Healthcare Assistant Eddie Brion bravely volunteered to stand outside ‘in the stocks’ and have wet sponges thrown at them.

One resident, Jack Harris, felt so sorry for them he insisted on being a target himself.

“Actually I very much enjoyed it,” said Jack. “It’s for a good cause and it was only fair to join in.”
Companionship Team Leader Julia Puia said: “It was a very fun and wet afternoon. We had a great time with lots of laughter. Everyone paid a pound a time to pick up and throw a soggy sponge. Residents enjoyed the activity and seeing Jack volunteer to take part was the best thing.”
Pink-themed goings on at Kingfishers in New Milton included an afternoon party, raffle and information session complemented by a foot-tapping country music singalong led by visiting entertainer Retro Rita.

Resident Jack Phillips said: “I enjoyed the music so much, it really made me want to dance.”
As well as holding a day of games and quizzes, residents at Amberwood House in Ferndown supported Wear it Pink by knitting pink ribbons to sell to friends and family.

Hundreds of pounds have been raised across the homes. Donations are still being collected ahead of a total amount being confirmed.

Breast Cancer Now funds life-changing support for cancer sufferers and research into new ways to help prevent, detect and treat the disease.

The charity has an ambition that by 2050 everyone diagnosed with breast cancer will live, and be supported to live well.

Wear it Pink has been the flagship annual fundraising campaign for Breast Cancer Now for more than 20 years.

For more information, visit www.breastcancernow.org

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.

Organisers of a charity that provides gifts of chocolate to less fortunate children at Christmas have thanked residents at five of our homes for their support
The Chocolate Elf praised the efforts of residents, staff and families at Woodpeckers in Brockenhurst, Kingfishers in New Milton and the Lymington homes Belmore Lodge, Linden House and Court Lodge for collecting more than 100 selection boxes and advent calendars.

The voluntary group distributes donations to children across Hampshire through contacts in local councils, children’s homes, charities, youth services, hospices and women’s refuges.
Representative Pete Orme, who visited Woodpeckers to pick up the gifts gathered by Colten Care, said: “Thank you so much to the staff, residents and families. Every single donation is truly going to transform a child’s day and, in some instances, their whole Christmas.”
[caption id="attachment_4541" align="alignnone" width="1024"] SWEET SURPRISE. At Woodpeckers in Brockenhurst with some of the chocolate donations are, from left, Colten Care Customer Advisors Tracy Baker, Tracy McCallum and Deborah Davies, and Chocolate Elf charity representative Pete Orme.[/caption]

Altogether, the five homes gathered 45 selection boxes, 56 advent calendars and other donations of chocolate coins, tubs and bars to help with the charity’s work.
Woodpeckers resident Jean Slater said: “How wonderful it was to help with this. Children will always eat chocolate.”