Celebrating Halloween at Mansfield Care Homes

Traditions are a part of life at Mansfield Care, and some of the homes organise themed nights around Halloween and Bonfire Night.

Belhaven House has a very sociable community atmosphere, and many residents remember Scottish traditions from this time of year. So they wanted to “stick with traditional things”, says home manager Fiona Hunter. “We had to improvise because local children were out trick or treating. So we set up some activities the residents remembered doing at home, such as dooking for apples.”

“We ‘dooked for apples’ by helping residents to drop a fork into a basin of water, and some staff brought in their children to join in. So our Halloween visitors included a hippie clown (Brenda who does our laundry), Fiona the carer, who was stolen by a zombie, and a wee dinosaur.”

Chef Stuart also made a Halloween cake and spooky gingerbread house, with hot dogs for tea.

As Fiona explains, celebrating annual traditions is fun and beneficial for residents. “It’s good cognitively because they get involved in planning and recall. It’s a conversation starter – for example, we were asking Alexa for Halloween songs and Margaret remembered ‘Monster Mash’. You also have physical activities such as making masks and our Esmerelda witch figure, which was fun for anyone who didn’t want to dress up.”

Galahill House meanwhile welcomed visitors from the local primary school. As wellbeing coordinator Tracy explains, the home has big gardens which are often used for children’s activities. “We held a scavenger hunt in the house and gardens for the kids,” she says. “Teams of pupils had to follow a trail of fake blood and get a sweet treat from the bag in the hedge. It was great fun and afterwards they joined the residents for their party”.

Peebles Care Home is right on Tweed Green with a great view of many community events, so the weather isn’t an issue. Wellbeing coordinator Gemma Brown says, “even though it was cold and foggy on Bonfire Night and residents couldn’t go outside, they were still able to watch Peebles firework display from the patio windows in our lounge. Much cosier!”

At Peebles, the annual November tradition is to have a Trick or Treat Soiree on the Saturday evening.

Residents were joined by relatives for a special dinner banquet in the dining-conservatory, which had been decorated with a “haunted manor” theme for the evening.

“Our chef, Robert, prepared a lovely three-course meal and we also had a very well received Brew Bar,” says Gemma. “It was a lovely end to the evening to take to the garden, and all share some sparklers together.

Many thanks to Mansfield Care staff for the photos and to the chefs for special Halloween food.