Care home residents overwhelmed by community kindness

Monday May 4th 2020

Highbank resident Helen Moncur watches her newly donated TV

The residents of Highbank Care Home in Eskbank have been ‘gobsmacked’ by the generosity of local people. Last week the call went out to the community to consider donating any spare TVs to help entertain those who didn’t have a set in their room.

The 40 residents, all aged over 60, are having to remain in their rooms for up to 24hrs a day, due to restrictions imposed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Lockdown is proving difficult for much of the population, but with none of the usual communal activities currently available at Highbank and a number of residents having no access to television in their rooms, many were feeling isolated.

However, the incredible community response, kickstarted by members of the Rotary Club of Esk Valley as reported last week, now means that every room has a TV. Aline Brown, Assistant Manager at the care home said the arrival of the TVs has been fantastic:

“Because of lockdown, activities can only be done individually in rooms and it takes staff some time to get round them. The televisions break up the mundanity for residents and help the day go faster. When residents are in bed, we can turn them round so they can watch it comfortably. Having the TVs has made a huge difference.”

 

 

Highbank’s Manager, Katherine Malone, said she’d never seen anything like it:

“We can’t believe all the kindness we’ve been shown. We’ve had collections of toiletries handed in from Newbattle Abbey Crescent, W H Smith and Tesco in Dalkeith donating arts and crafts activities and books, and now, to top it all off – all these TVs. It’s absolutely unbelievable and it’s making such a difference to the lives of our residents at this really difficult time. It’s lovely to see all the smiles and appreciation.

“We’re so grateful to Eskbank and Newbattle Community Council for organising it all and to the community for coming together like this. It’s great to see something good come out of this awful situation everyone’s dealing with.”

The Eskbank and Newbattle Community Council are still collecting books and jigsaws for the residents in sheltered housing at nearby Glenesk House. If you have any you’d like to donate, please contact mailbox@eskbanknewbattlecc.org.

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