Care home opens pub for residents

Bowood Court & Mews care home in Redditch, Worcestershire has opened an on-site pub to provide a social space for its elderly residents.

The new pub, named ‘The Queen Elizabeth Arms’ by residents, was opened in a ceremony on Monday to coincide with the start of Care Home Open Week, which seeks to connect care homes across the UK with the wider community.

In addition to bottles of beer, the pub also offers pub-style grub, tea and coffee. Residents have apparently taken to the pub already as a spot to play dominos and cards. Plans to use it is a venue for domino tournaments between different care homes are also afoot.

Care home manager Cindy Hawkins noted that a number of residents have an affinity for pubs due to having spent time working in the trade.

One such person is Margaret Gedge, who told local news outlet Redditch Standard: “It brings me back to my time as a barmaid – the echoes of laughter, clinking glasses, and heartfelt conversations still resound within me and it is so nice to be able to relive it here with my fellow residents.”

Beyond providing residents with the opportunity to have a pub experience without leaving the confines of the care home, The Queen Elizabeth Arms has also been designed to provide mental stimulation for those suffering from dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders.

BBC Radio West Midlands reported that Hawkins said: “This sort of memorabilia can spark memories for people who are living with dementia…It gives them a nice feeling, because they remember these things, the old pubs that they went to years ago. It empowers them, gives them the memories – they’ve been inviting their families here.”

Given that The Queen Elizabeth Arms is already proving a hit, it might not be long before other care homes open up pubs. Another trend that has taken off is that of the ‘pub shed’ – people building boozers in their back gardens.