Community conscious care home residents treated to limousine ride for day litter picking at the beach

Posted by james brindle | Published: 19/08/2019


A group of residents at a care home near Great Yarmouth were treated to limousine ride as a thank you for their community spirit as they spent a day clearing litter from a Norfolk beach.

The residents from Ritson Lodge Care Home in Hopton-on-Sea were given the luxury lift to their day at Gorleston beach thanks to colleagues at Central England Co-op Funeralcare.

The group were picked up from the home in Lowestoft Road and whisked off in style to the beach to do some litter picking, while also enjoying an ice cream and some laughs with their friends, as well as staff from the care home and the Funeral team.

Debbie Bishop, Funeral Administrator at Central England Co-op Funeralcare’s Gresham Avenue Funeral Home in Lowestoft, joined the residents at the beach to support with their litter picking, along with her colleague Funeral Service Assistant Martina Boyce.

She said: “I was speaking to the care home and they mentioned some of the residents were going to be doing a beach clean-up. We thought it sounded like a brilliant thing for them to do and I offered to come along and support them; however our Senior Funeral Director in Lowestoft Laura Crowley suggested we treat them to a limousine ride to take them to the beach.

“The residents were thrilled about it – we had four lovely ladies in the limousine with us along with two carers. They said they felt like VIPs!

“They all said afterwards what a lovely day it was and what an experience it was for them. We are always keen to build links with our communities and were delighted to join with Ritson Lodge to do something like this.”

Ritson Lodge Care Home, run by Barchester Healthcare, provides high quality residential and nursing care to older people, including those living with dementia.

Pamela Mauchaza, General Manager at Ritson Lodge Care Home, said: “We are very proud of our local community and take pride in the way it looks. The beach is a place full of fond memories for everyone, and for residents at our home, it was nothing short of a joy creating new memories with the team at Central England Co-op Funeralcare.”  

 

Notes to editors

About Central England Co-operative

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK. 

It is a modern, forward-looking organisation employing over 8,000 staff, with the Society’s principal areas of activity being food, funeral services, and property.

The company’s funeral business consists of over 120 funeral homes across 16 counties, nine florists, masonry production and administration, Bretby Crematorium and Terry Smiths coffin factory.

Central England Co-operative has more than 430 trading outlets across 16 counties including; West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. 

The Society has an ambitious food store and funeral home development programme for 2019.

Central England Co-operative is proud of its reputation for ethical business practices and corporate responsibility.  It is a member of Business in the Community, the membership organisation that stands for responsible business, and has also won many business awards for excellence.  The Society supports a number of charities including Dementia UK and invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities.

Becoming a member of Central England Co-operative offers a whole host of benefits ranging from collecting points every time you spend in store to earn a share of the profits, access to members activities and community initiatives including the Community Dividend Fund, which hands out grants of up to £5,000 to charities and good causes across the Society’s trading estate.

Find out how to become a Central England Co-operative member by calling 0800 0501 601, emailing members@centralengland.coop or visiting https://www.members.coop

For more information visit www.centralengland.coop, follow Central England Co-operative on Twitter: @mycoopfood, @mycooplife and on Facebook: facebook.com/centralenglandcooperative

Rob Smyth and James Brindle at Central England Co-operative on 01543 414140

Email – publicrelations@centralengland.coop