Avery’s Christmas Cake Competition!
December saw the launch of Avery’s third annual Christmas Cake competition, organised by Simon Lawrence (Head of Culinary and Hospitality) and Keir Pedley (Well-Being and Activities Manager). All Avery homes were encouraged to enter and to involve the residents to work with the culinary staff throughout December to plan, create and decorate their cakes. An amazing 45 cakes were made, which made it very hard for the judges, who were impressed by the resident and staff teamwork to create these wonderful festive treats.
The judges awarded Grove Park Care Home in Leeds with 1st place after reading about the planning and preparation that went into their design. Grove Park held Christmas cake meetings, with the use of visual boards, which the residents viewed to feed into the final design plan. Residents used the competition to reminisce about their previous Christmases, and they shared stories of gifts they had received in the past. The choice of cake ingredients developed through reminiscing with the residents about the luxury of a fruit cake, which during WWII rationing would have been available only to a privileged few. The Grove Park residents are also known to enjoy the occasional sherry, so the cake was made with a more than healthy glug of festive tipple!
Lisa Turnbull, Home Manager at Grove Park, said, “Our Christmas cake presented an ideal opportunity to facilitate the residents through a journey in time. It allowed a joyful exploration of a lifetime of festive family memories where our residents shared precious moments from their past. The journey came to a fantastic end when some of those memories came to life through the making of the cake and its finishing touches.”
Well done to all the homes who took part and congratulations to the winners at Grove Park! We would like to thank Bidfood for sponsoring the event, and for the £300 worth of gardening equipment that was the winner’s prize. That will all be put to good use this coming Spring as the residents tend to the pots and planters outside.
