Care home residents and school children create Community Choir | News from Oakwood Court

Care home residents at Sussex Housing & Care connected with over 150 school children from across Sussex on Thursday 1 July for a big community sing along.

The event was held in aid of national Care Home Open Week 2021 and focused on connecting care home residents with their local community. Older people from Sussex Housing & Care’s homes in Crowborough, Battle and Haywards Heath took part alongside children from 7 local schools, Arty Time toddler group and residents’ families.

After a week of practicing, everyone sang live on the video to the classic 1970’s hit ‘I’m on top of the world’ by The Carpenters.

June, 88, who lives at Woodlands Care Home in Crowborough said: “It was lovely to see the children, such a joy and they’ve given me a big smile. Thank you for organising.”

Northlands Wood Primary School in Haywards Heath commented: “It was an honour to join with Sussex Housing & Care today as our Year 3 pupils sang alongside local, older residents in a very special intergenerational project. We look forward to engaging in more of these opportunities in coming times.”

Tracy Evans, Chief Executive of Sussex Housing & Care joined the event: “The sing along with so many local people was fantastic. It’s been a great opportunity to connect people together and have some fun. We’re looking forward to many more intergenerational events in the future and I’d like to say a big thanks to all the schools and everyone who took part including our residents and their families – it’s definitely been a morning to remember and much enjoyed by our residents.”

After the stirring rendition, children from Sir Henry Fermor Primary School in Crowborough performed their version of the song with piano accompaniment. This was followed by the year 5 class at Jarvis Book Primary School sharing posters they had created for the care home residents, including kind messages such as ‘you are great’, ‘have fun’ and ‘be happy’.

The following schools took part in the event; Jarvis Brook Primary in Crowborough, Bolnore Primary in Haywards Heath, Holy Trinity Primary in Cuckfield, Northlands Wood Primary in Haywards Heath, Sir Henry Fermor Primary in Crowborough and St Mary’s Catholic Primary in Crowborough.

National care home open week is led by the organisation ‘Championing Social Care’. The aim of the event is to connect people and to enrich the lives of the UK’s care home residents by reminding people that the care homes in every community are filled with unique, intelligent and charming characters, and run by special people that do care.