Children from Nelmes Way Primary School put their mark on a brand-new care home opening in Hornchurch this summer by taking part in a creative competition to name several of the home’s communal spaces.
Signature Senior Lifestyle organised the competition to include the local community and foster intergenerational awareness ahead of the opening of Signature at Hornchurch, a new luxury care home set to welcome its first residents at the end of June. Three winning names were selection from 150 pupils from Years 3 to 6 who entered the competition: the cinema will be called The Silver Screen, suggested by Amayah A; The Creative Cabin, named by Arna Goyal, will be used as the dementia garden potting and creative area; and the first-floor dementia restaurant and activity room will be known as The Serenity Suite, a name suggested by Hareem V.
To introduce the project, teachers held a special assembly explaining the role care homes play in supporting older people and discussing dementia and how it can affect people and their families. Pupils were then invited to submit their ideas for naming rooms within the new home.
Two Year 5 pupils, Thomas and Arna, visited the care home alongside the school’s headteacher and deputy headteacher to present some of the children’s ideas and meet the team behind the new home.
During the visit, the group were given a tour of the soon-to-open care home, which will offer high-quality residential, nursing and dementia care in a luxury setting designed to support comfort, wellbeing and independence. The children said they thought the home was “beautiful”.
Catherine Komuhangi, Client Liaison Manager at Signature at Hornchurch, said:
“We were delighted to welcome the pupils from Nelmes Way Primary School and to see the creativity and enthusiasm they brought to the competition. It’s important to us that our homes feel like part of the community, and involving local children in naming some of our communal spaces was a wonderful way to begin building those relationships.
“Our team is looking forward to welcoming residents later this summer and providing the high-quality care, support and lifestyle that Signature is known for.”
As a thank you for taking part, Signature presented the school with two bags of goodies and a £100 book token to help purchase new books for pupils.
Local pupils help name rooms at new Hornchurch care home ahead of summer opening
