The Beeches and it’s residents were rocked by the harsh effects of a storm on Friday 18th February, which left us without any electricity from 2pm for over 24 hours.
Ixworth Parish Council appealed for help for the care home through ‘The Nextdoor’ Ixworth Facebook Page, after learning of their power cut. The Facebook post gained a lot of attention and encouraged the community to work together to support the elderly residents at The Beeches.
Bev Shave, Deputy Home Manager at The Beeches, said: “The light and heating had been off for a long time and everything was dark and dreary, the residents were starting to worry and were nervous about the storm.”
Local pub, The Pykkerell Inn, offered the care home its kitchens to cook hot meals for the staff and residents.
Lesley Cracknell, Manager at The Pykkerell Inn said: “After hearing of The Beeches being out of power on Saturday morning following the disruption of the storm, we welcomed them over to our pub and offered for them to use our facilities to make a hot meal for the residents.”
“We helped the kitchen staff at The Beeches make a shepherd’s pie that would feed all thirty residents and keep everyone warm whilst they waited for power.
“We wanted to be able to support our elderly community as best we could in the circumstances and we are really pleased that we were able to do that, as well as providing other members of the village community with hot water and other items”.
Mulleys, the local coach service, brought torches to the home for the residents and staff to use. People within the Ixworth community also visited the home offering encouraging support and large lanterns to provide light within the home.
The lights and lanterns were gladly received by our staff and residents.
Bev Shave, Deputy Home Manager, said: “Everyone at the home sat around the lights in the lounge and enjoyed singing and games.
“We also did a quiz with the residents to keep everyone entertained, it was really nice to come together and boost each other’s morale during the storm”.
Saint Mary’s Church in Ixworth also opened its doors and the church volunteers cooked and delivered hot parsnip, carrot and broccoli soup with bread rolls to the care home for supper.
Reverend Karen Burton and Parish Councilman, Ben Lord, brought the soup to the home.
Reverend Karen, Team Rector at Blackbourne Team Ministry, said: “It was just so good to be able to help! We knew that we had a lot of soup and bread rolls in the freezer, left over from an event just before Christmas.
“I popped up to The Beeches to borrow their pans, and along with others from the Parish Council and village, we defrosted everything and got the soup piping hot before walking it up the High Street for dinner.”
Reverend Karen continued: “It was wonderful to see people come together during the storm – knocking on doors to see if neighbours were ok, spreading the word that there was a warm place to go to.
“The Beeches holds a special place in the heart of this village, as well as other villages around us. We are all proud of the love and care staff show to our friends and family there.”
Our residents very much enjoyed the soup, with many commenting that it was the best soup they had ever had.
Bev Shave said: “Whilst we were out of power, we spoke about the war time with the residents and other memories throughout their lives.
“The staff and residents at The Beeches would like to extend their thanks to the Ixworth community for their kind generosity on Saturday 19th February, with special thanks to The Pykkerell Inn, Saint Mary’s Church, Mulleys Coach Service, and local residents for helping with extra lighting.”
Happily our home was connected with electricity again at 5pm on Saturday.
We are pleased to be still welcoming new residents to the home. Our home continues to have specific procedures in place to continue to support families who are looking for care for a loved one, whilst minimising the risk for residents and staff.
As a specialist care home with a team of dedicated care staff, The Beeches is proud to provide around the clock care for residents.
For more information please call 01359 230773 or visit https://www.thebeeches-ixworth.co.uk