How a post office is helping residents at Cov care home

A CARE home in Coventry have come up with a creative way to help residents reconnect with their community.

All the residents at Brandon House Care Home in Bell Green have dementia and staff wanted to help them get back in touch with the outside world through a unique initiative.

They signed residents up to Postcards for Kindness, a nationwide penpal scheme, which proved so successful that they have now opened their very own post office.

Postcards for Kindness is an initiative where care homes across the UK can reach out to the community via social media and in return receive postcards from holidaymakers throughout the year.

The walls of the Bell Green care home’s living room are full of postcards from well wishers across the globe, all writing to residents about their lives.

The scheme was such a success, that the home decided they wanted to go one step further and create a realistic post office.

The Brandon House team got to work to make the residents’ wish come true and, with generous donations from colleagues and relatives, Brandon House has created an amazing, realistic post office for those living at the home.

We popped down for the grand opening of the post office, where residents and staff gathered for a ceremony led by Chandrakant Patel, who has been the Bell Green post master for 44 years, and Himanshu Shah the new post master.

Stepping into the inviting Post Office is like walking back in time, with jars of penny sweets, scales, postcards and small items all for sale like in any Post Office.

Staff and residents alike spoke about how central Post Offices were to people’s social lives. It was a place where people’s lives came together and still do today.

Resident Janet Gulliver said: “It was lovely going to the Post Office, I would really miss it if it went.

“We all need a Post Office, we’d be lost without one.”

Resident Peggie Dawson added: “It’s very handy, it makes it easy to send stuff.

I expect I’ll be making a visit for Christmas.”

Resident David Burnham added: “It feels lovely, it’s lovely going to post letters and to buy sweets.”

It isn’t the first time that care homes across Coventry and Warwickshire have taken measures like this. From bringing in West End Opera stars to building replica pubs, staff have found that recreating places of familiarity have helped residents reconnect with their community.

Chandrakant Patel, now retired Bell Green post master, said although he had seen a change in local usage of the service, post offices were still an important part of the community.

“I have seen generations in Bell Green grow up and they’re still coming to the Post Office. This set up brings the memories from when they visited the Post Office when they were young. It starts conversation and they start talking, which is the most important thing.”

After 44 years of service to his local community, Mr Patel will be retiring and said he will be miss the “hustle and bustle and laughter and jokes” with local customers.

His successor Himanshu Shah said: “This place is fantastic, they way they have set it up to capture the history is amazing.

“Residents can see their childhood come back through their memories, it’s really good.”

Home manager Sheryl Davis spoke of the impact: “We felt that the Post Office was a really important part of residents’ life from when they were growing up.

“They’ve been up and wrote post cards, we’ve got a little shop and a table and chairs if they want to have a cup of tea. It’s a great activity for residents to be taking part in.”

Sitting within the walls of this warmly lit time capsule, it is clear how important the space will be in helping spark the memories and imagination of residents here.

Dementia can change the people we knew but seeing residents interact and chat in a space familiar to them shows just how powerful memories can be.

It’s very handy, it makes it easy to send stuff. I expect I’ll be making a visit for Christmas. Peggie Dawson