Lockdown pub lunch for St Oswalds House Care Home residents

Those living at St Oswalds House Care Home in Winwick were able to enjoy a delicious pub meal from the comfort of their home.

While pubs and restaurants across the country remain closed until Monday, when they can open their beer gardens to visitors, St Oswalds House was able to reopen its on-site eatery for residents.

Here, they enjoyed a home-cooked three-course meal which included fish and chips and Irish coffee.

The afternoon was organised by Michelle Forster, the Golborne Road home’s activity coordinator, and she says it was wonderful to see smiles on the faces of residents.

Elderly residents enjoy their pub dinner at St Oswalds House Care Home in Winwick

“To say goodbye to a whole year of battling Covid and lockdown, St Oswalds House Care Home reopened our on-site pub – The Train Inn,” she said.

“Our residents were treated to a lovely three-course meal, with cocktails and Irish coffee afterwards.

“The rest of the afternoon was full of music, dancing, fun and laughter.

“It has been such a hard year with no family visits and regular isolation within our home.

“Now that visiting has started to begin again, families are once again enjoying seeing their loved ones.”

Elderly residents enjoy their pub dinner at St Oswalds House Care Home in Winwick

The Train Inn, which opened in October 2018, has all the traditional features of a public house, and conveniently those wishing to buy a pint don’t have far to travel.

The bungalow it is based in was previously used for storage before being transformed for residents to use.

Speaking after it opened, care home manager Ria Percival said: “Our residents love going to pub – we have organised trips to The Swan before, but we were limited on how many residents we could take at one time.

“We thought what better way to use the bungalow than to put a pub on their doorstep.”