Aylesbury care home launches 'operation pom pom' to spread Christmas cheer

A care home group in Aylesbury has come up with an innovative idea to spread Christmas cheer this year.

Earlier this year, Sue Faulkner, The Fremantle Trust’s lifeStyle and wellbeing Manager contacted Ruth and Bea from Aylesbury Town Council to see whether The Fremantle Trust could support any up and coming Christmas events within the community.

Aylesbury Town Council is hosting its first ‘Christmas on the Cobbles’ event this Sunday (20 November).

One of the features promised for the event was snowball fights for families.

But with snow unlikely to fall during this mild autumn, the council has adapted to replace snow with pom poms.

These little round balls of woollen tassels normally adorn woolly hats or waved by cheerleaders have an additional festive purpose in Aylesbury.

The residents within The Fremantle Trust’s Older People Services stepped up to create the pom poms using wool supplied by the town council.

A spokesman for the trust said: “The activity named ‘Operation Pom Pom’ has really proved beneficial for Fremantle’s residents living with dementia or with arthritic conditions of the hands. Due to the simplicity of making the little white tassel balls, not only has this been a social activity but the residents with higher care needs and those with nursing needs have also benefited.”

Reports from the care service say that some residents have become rather competitive, keeping score to see who can create the most wooly snowballs.

As well as the Fremantle Older Peoples Services, Aylesbury Age UK and Chiltern View Nurseries were involved.

Faulkner presented hundreds of Pom Poms in large bags to the council.

Resident Doreen at Lewin House in Aylesbury said: “It was great fun and we are really looking forward to seeing the photographs of the snowball fights. Paying an active part in the local community is so important to us.”

More information on the care service can be found online here.

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