HC-One’s Summerhill Care Home, in Kendal, Cumbria, is celebrating World Environment Day on 5 June by highlighting several eco-friendly projects. World Environment Day is the United Nations’ Day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect the environment.
This year’s theme focuses on areas including land restoration and drought resilience, with activity termed ‘Generation Restoration’. Summerhill Care Home uses its green space to maximum effect and has attracted many new residents to the home in the process.
Sean Moore, Wellbeing Co-ordinator at Summerhill Care Home, said: “We are very fortunate to have such an abundance of green areas and our aim is for all our residents to enjoy this space especially during the summer months and for Summerhill to help preserve our natural environment for future generations.”
Summerhill’s green initiatives include the creation of a wildflower meadow to enhance biodiversity, and butterfly and bird boxes handmade by residents to help maintain and increase the numbers of some rare or threatened species. The home also plans to install a wildlife webcam in the garden to capture the bird and animal activity and share the footage with residents.
The home’s other green measures include installing beehives that produce ‘Summerhill’ honey and the planting of apple trees – which Summerhill will use to produce jam for the residents and colleagues to enjoy. Summerhill hopes to evolve its ‘self-sustaining’ approach by also growing potatoes and radishes, which will be used by the home’s catering team to produce nourishing and varied meals for residents.
Sean said: “We will be continuing our ‘garden to fork’ approach over the summer and I will be working closely with our chef, gardener, and the local community to determine the best fruit and vegetables to plant to devise a series of highly nutritious and enjoyable meals for residents. I would be delighted if we could grow around 30-40% of our own food over time.”
Many of Summerhill’s residents enjoy gardening and their green fingers have helped create beautiful flowerbeds. Residents with mobility issues also enjoy the pretty garden areas from the perches of the home’s new suite of outdoor furniture.
A new pond has been created on the green complete with its own solar-powered water pump which continually generates fresh water. The water feature is a source of considerable interest to residents - especially when it plays home to tadpoles.
