Residents of Whiddon Beaudesert Star aged care home were treated to a super morning tea as part of Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea on 28th May.
Leisure Coordinator, Robert Campbell, said he decided on a super hero theme for the morning after reading an article stating everyone who fights cancer is a super hero.
“I thought it was a great way to make the morning fun. I sent an email and text to all the staff and I was really happy with the effort everyone went to in dressing up,” said Robert.
“We try to support all the major fundraisers and big days like RSPCA Cup Cake Day, Pink for Breast Cancer and Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea,” he said, “The residents loved it. We set the bar really high this time.”
Residents joined in the spirit of the event with one resident wearing his Incredible Hulk t-shirt. Staff members Laurelle Nott and Suzanne Jones sang and a $1 raffle raised $144 raised for Cancer Council Queensland.
Robert said Whiddon Beaudesert Star have ensured the effect of COVID-19 restrictions on residents is minimal.
“As soon as the lockdown started, we increased our Leisure Programs from two to three programs to keep the residents busy and socialising,” said Robert.
“We began using Skype for residents to be able to see and speak to their families. Then we started Risk Free visits via a window and this quickly became the most popular way for families to keep in touch.”
We have followed the Government legislation to the letter but the Risk Free visits and Skype have enabled people to keep in touch with their families. We’ve been doing window visits all day every day,” he said.
Robert said staff monitored residents to ensure they kept active and were interacting with staff members and other residents during lockdown.
“If we found someone wasn’t coming to activities we made sure they had one on one time with staff,” he said.
“We have really tried to support the residents through this time and I think they have coped incredibly well.”
