Care home residents mourn Queen with prayer services and personal tributes
Some residents have laid flowers at royal residences, while others have raised a glass to a life-sized cardboard cut-out of the Queen.
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Your support makes all the difference.Care homes across the country have held prayer services, flower arranging sessions and opened books of condolence so residents can pay tribute to the Queen following her death.
Some residents have been taking part in art sessions, while others have written personal messages or been supported to visit royal residences such as Windsor Castle to lay flowers.
In St Cecilia’s nursing home in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, residents raised a toast alongside a life-sized cardboard cut-out of the Queen that they obtained for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations earlier this year.
This week they will have the opportunity to go to the town hall to sign its book of condolence, and a red, white and blue layered cake has been baked for residents by the head chef.
St Cecilia’s managing director Mike Padgham said the death of the Queen has been “particularly hard” for many residents.
He said: “They have shared many lifetime experiences with the Queen and she has always been there, in the background of their lives. There have certainly been some tears shed these past few days.
“But our residents are also very stoic and so, whilst they are honouring the Queen’s life, they are also celebrating the ascension of King Charles III to the throne and wishing him well for the future.”
Across the care group’s five homes, residents will be able to watch Monday’s funeral together and raise a glass to the Queen at a buffet lunch.
Staff at Montrose care home in Watford and Mountbatten Grange care home in Windsor took residents to Windsor castle so they could pay their respects and lay flowers.
One of the Montrose residents, Ron Masters, 79, said: “It was amazing how many people were there all to say goodbye to the Queen, she will be heavily missed.”
Melvin Green, a resident at Kingfisher Court care home in Sutton-on-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, said residents have spent the weekend remembering royal milestones, following the news coverage and composing messages of support for the new King and his family.
The 90-year-old said: “We have celebrated every landmark, the birth of her children, her grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, we have partied at jubilee celebrations and mourned the loss of her mother, her sister and her beloved husband, Prince Phillip.
“Her presence has been a constant, her loyalty to this country and to the Commonwealth unbounding, and we shall be forever in awe of her and eternally grateful to her.
“We, like the rest of the nation, are still trying to come to terms with the sad news, it will take a while to process.”
Melanie Harrington, vicar at St Luke’s Church Kew in Richmond, south-west London, held a prayer service at the nearby Victoria House care home, where residents shared how the Queen had inspired them and sang the new national anthem.
She said: “One lady talked about how she appreciated the way the late Queen had been a good mother and grandmother as well as being a Queen.
“Others spoke about how they admired the Queen’s humility and how she ‘just got on with it and never made a fuss’.
“There seemed to be a sense of acceptance of the Queen’s death – a sense of peace around it, but also a desire that she is remembered and recognised for her great contribution.”
In The Lawn care home in Alton, Hampshire, residents decorated a table with photographs of the Queen, bunting and their own flower arrangements.
Resident Vera Wren, 90, said: “We are so sorry to have lost her, I looked at her as more of a friend than the Queen, that’s how I felt about her.”
At Elmfield House Residential Home in Woking, Surrey, residents have been colouring British flags and writing messages of condolence, while staff are planning quizzes and discussions about the Queen and an afternoon tea.
On the day of the funeral, residents and staff are planning to wear black and mark the occasion with a special meal and a toast.
Staff at the Cedars care home near Salisbury, Wiltshire, have been asked to wear black during the period of national mourning “as a sign of honour and respect and to mourn her passing”.
Some of the home’s residents had served under the Queen, or had met her or the Queen Mother.
General manager Sam Humphries said: “For the residents here at Cedars, we wanted to show that we respect their past as well as our future.
“Some of the residents are coping by talking to each other whilst others are sitting in silence whilst watching the news.
“One resident in particular is currently reminiscing with her family as they came in knowing she would feel sad with the news of the Queen’s death.”
Sue Learner, editor of the care home reviews website carehome.co.uk, said the outpouring of sadness from care home residents and staff “has been very moving, and her loss is understandably deeply felt”.
She said: “We have seen many care homes giving residents space to remember and reminisce about the Queen, with a book of condolence, lighting candles and putting up displays of flowers, photos and written memories of her, with some staff even taking residents to Windsor Castle so they can pay their respects.”