A south Manchester care home is running a bike ride to help raise funds to complete vital building works that had to be halted during lockdown.
St Joseph's Home in Longsight, which is run by Little Sisters Of The Poor, looks after elderly residents and is currently at half capacity due to building work.
Before lockdown, work on rebuilding one wing of the home was already taking place. When complete, it will provide accommodation for a further 45 elderly people.
Since Friday (July 10), staff and residents have been taking part in a sponsored bike ride to help achieve their target of £5,000 to complete the essential works.
The aim is to cycle the 486-mile distance from the Manchester care home to the Little Sisters’ ‘mother house’ in Brittany, France.
“We got the idea after we were having a bit of a sort out and came across two exercise bikes in a store room,” Joan Devall, fundraising manager at St Joseph’s, told the M.E.N.
“We’ve created a map that shows the route from Manchester to Brittany and have been tracking our progress as we peddle away.”
The two bikes have been set up in St Joseph’s stage area and staff have been coming up with creative ways to keep their residents entertained.
“Last night we reached Portsmouth on our map and that’s where we were supposed to have got on the ferry,” Joan said.
“So we projected a picture of the ferry on the screen behind us and pretended we had got on board. It’s just been a nice way of having fun with it and making it interactive.
“We have another home in Birmingham and as we reached there on our map, we had a video from the assistants and residents who were cheering us on. We did the same with one of our homes in London.”
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Staff have also been cycling to and from the care home in order to keep the miles adding up too - they aim to reach their ‘destination’ by Monday (July 20).
“The residents have been keen to get involved too,” Joan added.
“Those that are a bit more active have been walking around the hall, while others have been pushed around by their carers.
“We’ve been sharing videos and pictures online. You feel so sorry for the residents that they can’t see their relatives and vice versa, so this is also our way of letting the families see what’s going on.”
In December, St Joseph’s received an ‘outstanding’ rating by health care regulators for the service it provides
The glowing report acknowledged how staff went ‘over and above’ to meet the needs of the residents - and that’s something that’s continuing throughout lockdown.
Until recently, no one was allowed to visit the care home as strict measures were put into place. In the last week, staff have installed a gazebo outside with screens and a seating area for people to visit.
Families can book appointments to visit their relatives, sitting on the opposite side of a long table situated away from the rest of the care home.
“Everybody’s being extra careful and so far it’s working well,” Joan said.
“It’s all very controlled, people can’t just turn up and we’re only allowed to have two members per resident at the most.
“It’s been a confusing time and there’s some residents who have been struggling to really grasp the situation and what’s happening.”
The current St Joseph’s building was built from the ground up in 1980, but growing needs have meant the building is no longer fit for its purpose.
Work on one half of the building has already taken place and is now where 30 residents live and socialise.
The work on the second half of the building had already started to take place when lockdown measures were put in place.
The building work was to be paid for by a series of fundraising events, such as gala evenings and functions, that were planned for throughout the year.
“We have a lot of events that keep our residents busy and help us raise money to continue the work we do,” Joan explains.
“We had a big St. Patrick’s celebration planned for March that we had to cancel. That event was really popular and raised a lot of money for us.
“We also had events like a fashion show, afternoon tea and a summer fair in June that have also needed to be cancelled.
“We had a gala dinner last November that was very successful in terms of people’s enjoyment and funds raised.
"We were hoping to do another one as people were asking but we can’t even do that as we don’t know what will be happening by then.
“This sponsored bike ride will hopefully allow us to complete the building work and continue to deliver the level of care that we have always provided.”
You can donate to the fundraising campaign here.
