We were all so excited to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee here at Loose Valley Care Home.
Monday 30 May – decorations
To kick off the celebrations for HRH Queen Elizabeth II, we got creative with red, white and blue bunting, balloons and decorations.
We spent time creating Jubilee cards with our card making toppers of crowns, corgi, mini Union Jacks and British bulldogs. It was a fun project for our residents to get involved with and create their own designs – one of our ladies sent a card to her great-granddaughters and she couldn’t wait for them to receive it!
The Jubilee was a welcome opportunity for us to celebrate our Queen’s 70 year reign on the throne, so the afternoon was spent chatting about previous Jubilees and of course the coronation in 1953. We took time to look at photos of her life and also enjoyed a royal quiz.
Tuesday 31 May – arts and crafts
On Tuesday, we had some fun painting themed stones for our Jubilee garden – tea pots, crowns, corgis and the Union Jack to name a few, which looked great on display. We chatted over a cuppa and enjoyed a singalong with Kevin Walsh in the afternoon.
Thursday 2 June – Trooping the Colour
We watched Trooping the Colour on television from 10:30am on Thursday, admiring all the smart uniforms of the horse guards and remarking about the beautiful black horses with their glossy coats.
The ceremony took place at Horse Guards Parade, the regiments flag was paraded along the ranks of soldiers. The ceremony goes back to the 17th century when Charles II reigned over England, it was so soldiers could recognise their own regiment!
With 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians who come together each June, it is one of the most esteemed military displays in the world.
During mid-morning we enjoyed a cuppa with a slice of our corgi cake ‘Clarence’, he was a lovely double chocolate Swiss roll. Yum!
Friday 3 June – Cream tea and church service
Our Chef made a gorgeous cream tea with scones and mini cupcakes for our residents.
We watched the royal church service together which was broadcast from St Pauls Cathedral, as we have some avid admirers of the royal family here at Loose Valley. Everyone agreed it was a lovely service and we all enjoyed watching all the heads of state, our Prime Minster Boris and lots of royals including Harry and Meghan.
Saturday 4 June – Epsom Races and June’s birthday
Attention turned to Epsom on Saturday afternoon for the races. The Queen unfortunately couldn’t make the day, but it was still very enjoyable to watch. Hayley organised tabletop races while we waited for the race to start. She had prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize.
Each of our residents had a betting slip made by Hayley, and enjoyed a flutter without putting any money down. One of our ladies hadn’t bet before and thought it was great!
Our lovely resident June celebrated her 92nd birthday on Saturday too and her son Paul and grandson Harry came in to visit her, with flowers and chocolates. Her room was decorated with balloons and banners and she was very happy on her special day!
She had a wonderful birthday cake which she enjoyed sharing with our residents.
Sunday 5 June – Jubilee pageant
A church service for Pentecost was broadcast on BBC 1, so we gathered at 10am to watch that. Afterwards, there was a special Jubilee edition of ‘Songs of Praise‘ with Aled Jones – and lots of singing from us!
After lunch we watched the Jubilee pageant that came down the Mall and turned in front of Buckingham Palace where the royal family were sitting. The Queen didn’t make it, but William, Kate, George, Charlotte, Louis and many other royals delighted in all the floats and parades in front of them.
We loved all the pomp and ceremony of the dresses and costumes on show, along with music and buses with stars from the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s. It was a wonderful celebration of ‘all things British’ and of course the Commonwealth, with everyone coming together.
The Queen, together with senior royals, came onto the balcony after Ed Sheeran sang in front of the palace. She looked beautiful in her green outfit as she waved to the public.
Our resident Gwen told us about her boyfriend proposing to her in St. James’s Park, as she was on her lunch break and her office overlooked the park. She said: “He came into my office and said that we needed to go for a little walk – it was then he proposed to me. So special, this was in 1956“.
We served a special Jubilee cake by our Chef Dee, which had a rice paper topping with the Queen’s picture on; our residents enjoyed a slice with a cuppa while watching the Jubilee show.
What a wonderful week of celebrating – we all thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it!
