A previous Activities Co-Ordinator, Deanne said that she would have loved to develop an on-site shop for Residents.  On taking over the role of Activity Co-Ordinator Stef found herself leaving the building more and more regularly to purchase toiletries for the Residents which was taking precious time away from being with them.  Although she would take some residents shopping, it wasn’t possible for all residents to do this.  With the idea of a shop and ways to raise money for its set up planned, Stef said to Deanne and the Home Manager, Bev, “If I can have a shop built in the conservatory, I will do a sky dive to raise the money to make it happen.” The ladies thought she was crazy even thinking about it and she decided to book it so there could be no backing out.

Stef’s idea was to give the residents the feeling of a real shop front with a lamp post (which is in full working order) and letter box, the brick effect wallpaper was kindly donated by B &Q.  The window frame and glass was supplied by a friend of hers in the window industry at a highly discounted price of £25.  Stef was able to source all necessary materials over the period of a couple of months to help give the shop that old vintage feel.

Stef received a great deal of support from the staff and Residents’ families who all wanted an update when the sky dive was completed.  Deanne did better than this and provided a live posting on Facebook for the families to watch.  An amazing total of £1,000 was raised which has paid for everything needed for the shop to be up and running – materials, furniture and the items to fill the shop’s shelves and cabinets.

Stef’s aim is to promote and give Residents more independence and for them to be able to purchase their own essentials and give them that sense of importance and self-reliance.  She sat and had group chats and asked the Residents what they wanted to see in the shop and has taken all their comments on board and ensured that their wishes have been met.

Stef is hoping to have this story about the development of the shop printed in the Hampshire Chronicle within the next few weeks.