Residents at a Dorset care home showed how much they love to be beside the seaside – without leaving the comfort of their lounge.
While there are regular summer trips from Colten Care’s Brook View in West Moors to nearby coastal beauty spots, some residents cannot go for various reasons.
So team members decided to ‘bring the seaside to the home’, transforming the lounge into a fun beachscape complete with sand, buckets and spaces, ‘rockpools’, ice cream and even a candy floss machine.

ICE TO KNOW YOU: Daphne Simpson enjoys the seaside experience with a friendly octopus

Residents made balloons in the shape of sea creatures such as octopuses and there were competitions involving rockpool fishing and building sandcastles.
Companionship team leader Sarah Moule said: “We thought it would be a great idea to host a beach-themed day here at the home as not everyone can always get out to the seaside.
“Also, we did it in response to a request from one of the regulars on our minibus trips, Daphne Simpson.
“When we go to the coast, Daphne always wants to get her feet wet. It’s the same with the New Forest – she will want to find a pool to go paddling in.
“Seaside holidays tend to give us some of our happiest memories – and the same goes for our residents, including Daphne.
“Most of them spent time enjoying beaches and coastal trips in their youth and so having the seaside brought to Brook View was a lovely experience for them.”