Residents happy to make their own entertainment during the coronavirus lockdown

By Derek Davis

15th Oct 2020 | Local News

The pandemic has put a temporary halt to outside entertainers visiting care homes.

However, ladies at Spring Lodge, in Woolverstone, have revived old skills to keep themselves sew happily entertained.

The home's activities coordinator, Aimee Davey, said: "Our sewing circle is proving a big hit. It has been inspired by Jean Brookes, our 95-year-old resident who has been at Spring Lodge for three years. She worked in a dressmaking shop in Exeter, in Devon, when she was a young woman.

"She did all her training there, before, during and just after the war. Soon after she moved to Suffolk. She carried on dressmaking for friends and family, where she lived in Chelmondiston, well into her 70s."

Aimee said one of Jean's sons, Malcolm, recalled his mother's ingenuity in turning her rabbit skin jacket into a warm lining for his coat when he cycled to school.

"Once the pandemic has gone away, we would like local dressmakers to come and give demonstrations to our sewing circle," said Aimee.

Other ladies, such as Daphne, (pictured) are a dab hand at knitting and all can chat away while being nimble-fingered.