Staff at a specialist care centre in Aberdeen are determined to make Christmas Day extra special today for the residents missing out on family visits.
The Sue Ryder Centre normally opens the doors to families for lunch, with visiting hours extended to ensure the residents can spend as much time as possible with their loved ones.
But since the pandemic, visitors must make an appointment and these are limited.
The team are determined to ensure their residents still enjoy their Christmas however,
Rebecca Coull is a member of the admin team at the centre and admitted it will be a “very different” Christmas for everyone.
The 37-year-old said: “The normal Christmas lunch will go ahead but we’ll have to do separate sittings to maintain distancing.
“Working during the pandemic has been hard going at times. The focus has been on keeping everyone safe – residents and staff – but also making sure that people aren’t lonely and upset because they aren’t seeing their family by taking the time out of your day to stop, get them involved and chat.
“It’ll be all hands on deck to make it the best day we can for them.”
To combat loneliness among residents, staff have been making sure they’re able to video call and phone their families.
As well as this, they started a regular e-mail for people to see what their loves ones were up to, including pictures of activities at Dee View.
Christmas decorations are banned due to coronavirus guidelines but staff have brightened up the centre with window stickers and laminated pictures which can be easily cleaned.
Throughout Christmas Day, there will be a variety of activities taking place including film showings, games and quizzes.
This year is the first time Miss Coull will have ever spent Christmas without her family and although is is “very sad”, she is excited to help out at the centre.
She said: “I think it means quite a lot that although I’m not able to spend time with my family – everyone in here, you spend so much time with them they’re like a second family – so I’ll be spending Christmas with my second family.”
