Afternoon tea helps residents stay connected

Abbeyfield House Mortlake Biggest Afternoon Tea

More than $400 was raised for cancer research last week when Abbeyfield House residents invited the wider community into their home for a Biggest ‘Afternoon’ Tea.

At least 30 community members visited Abbeyfield House for the event, which was part of the organisation’s ongoing commitment to keep residents connected with the Mortlake community.

Abbeyfield House Mortlake’s lifestyle coordinator Annemaree Stonehouse said last Thursday’s Biggest Afternoon Tea was a wonderful success.

“To raise over $400 for important cancer research certainly exceeded my expectations, but equally important was that our residents had a fantastic social day,” she said.

“We were planning to have our own Biggest Morning Tea, but decided it would be even better if we provided an opportunity for the residents to connect with the wider Abbeyfield community to have some fun and raise some money together.

“It gave our residents the opportunity to socialise and, for many of them, the opportunity to reconnect with their local Probus, CWA, Senior Citizens, cards club and many other groups in the area.”

Ms Stonehouse said Abbeyfield House Mortlake placed a lot of importance on providing opportunities for residents to stay connected with social groups they enjoyed prior to moving into residential care.

“Whenever possible we try and help our residents continue to be involved with any club, group or organisations they spent time in when living independently,” she said.

Musician Doug Barr, the son of resident Faye, attended the Biggest Morning Tea and kept the crowd entertained with his guitar and vocals.

“We charged $5 for community members to join us – but a lot paid more. Our residents had the option to make a donation and many did,” Ms Stonehouse said.

“Our raffles were a big hit, with a special thanks to Glenafton Goat Milk Soap who donated some skin care prizes and there were some other prizes as well.

“We also started selling raffle tickets for a quilt which has been made by our CEO Deb Rantall’s mum Lorna Meldrum and is absolutely beautiful. We’re still selling tickets for that and it will be drawn this Saturday as part of our Abbeyfield Quilt Show and Open Day.”

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