Lyn’s Santa sitting alongside his home-made fireplace at Whitehaven Care Home
Residents at the Whitehaven Care Home always know when Christmas is coming because Santa makes an early appearance, thanks to White Horse tenant Lyn Nash.
Her home-made Santa adds a touch of cheer as he sits by a fireplace, signalling the start of the festive season. Lyn, who was a carer at the home in Midsomer Norton but is now a general assistant and housekeeper, originally made him for another care home she worked at eight years ago.
“I thought it would be a nice feature for all the residents to see so I just got a PVC decorating suit and stuffed it,” she says. “I dressed him and put a wig on him, and then went to a charity shop and bought some glasses and wellingtons for him. I wanted to make him as realistic as I could.”
When the home closed after being sold Lyn moved to Whitehaven and when it got close to Christmas remembered her Santa. “I got him back and then had to remake him a bit as he was sagging,” she says.
“My husband Nigel got some boxes from the supermarket and we made a fireplace for him to sit by and then we took him to Whitehaven.”
Their efforts to make him look realistic were almost too good. “One or two of the residents got quite a start,” says Lyn, who has lived in Kilmersdon for 36 years. “But once they learned that he was stuffed and he wasn't real, they sort of got used to him sitting in the chair by the fireplace.
“They love him now, they say they know when Christmas is coming when he comes out. We even get a couple of them who sit on his knee and squash him.”
The Santa isn’t the only creation they’ve made for the home. The couple turned a corridor at the home into a Memory Lane, with pictures of familiar people, objects and adverts from the 50s to the 00s in different sections.
“We made a whole corridor of pictures of the 1950s and we did another wall 1960s, 1970s, right the way through to 2000,” says Lyn. “It took a long time to research but it’s lovely because it helps the residents who have dementia.
“They walk down and they've got old adverts for things like Daz and Fairy and Pears Soap and it’s surprising how many of them actually remember. Anything to jog a memory is brilliant.”
The couple also created one wall of 1950s film and TV stars. Says Nigel: “We had one gentleman who didn’t remember his son or daughter but when he walked past the wall he could name everyone on it.”
Lyn adds: “It’s a lot of work but it is rewarding to see them all enjoying it.”