After donating over £2,500 worth of bird care kits to The Royal British Legion services, including its Poppy Bird Feeders, Gardman dropped in to Care Home of the Year 2015, Galanos House on October 31 to meet residents and hear how they’ve been enjoying feeding the birds in their garden.
Alongside the #GardmanPoppy campaign, which aims to raise £200,000 for The Royal British Legion through the sale of charity Poppy Bird Feeders and bird feed, Gardman has provided six Royal British Legion care homes and a break centre with all the essentials for encouraging wild birds to visit and feed.
The bird feeding kits, which include a choice of Poppy Bird Feeders, bird baths and feeding tables, have been designed to provide a meaningful activity that care home residents can enjoy together.
Craig Edsey, activities manager at Galanos House care home in Warwickshire, said: “Feeding birds is such a great activity for our residents, especially those suffering from dementia. We have found that by feeding the birds, it has often broken down the barrier for residents who find it difficult to go outside. It is a lovely concept of having birds return to the feeders each day and our residents treat them like their own pets.”
The Legion’s care homes provide long-term nursing and personal care to ex-service people and their dependants, including dedicated dementia care. Homes vary in size from 50 bedrooms to 90 bedrooms with communities including men and women of varied ages.
Gardman Bird Feeding Kits were provided to Dunkirk Memorial House in Somerset, Galanos House in Warwickshire, Halsey House in Norfolk, Lister House in North Yorkshire, Mais House in East Sussex, Maurice House in Kent, and Erskine in Renfrewshire (Scotland). A kit was also provided to Alderson House, a Royal British Legion break centre in East Riding of Yorkshire.
104-year-old Harry Askew, retired sniper serving in World War II and resident at Galanos House care home, said: “We love looking after the birds and the feeding kits are fantastic. They add a splash of colour to the gardens too!”
