Edensor Care Centre thrilled to receive £15,000 from local charity Colchester Catalyst for their ‘End of Life’ project to build a ‘Quiet Oasis’ cabin.
Rodney Appleyard, Development Manager and Stephanie Grant, Administrator from grant making trust and charity Colchester Catalyst, visited Edensor, the Diagrama Foundation run Care Centre in Clacton on 15 July, to present a cheque for £15,000 to fund their ‘End of Life’ Project.
The vital funding will allow Edensor to have a special sensory cabin built in the beautiful gardens of their care home to give residents and their families a private, quiet and calming area where they can spend precious time together in their final days. The cabin will be known as ‘Quiet Oasis’ a name selected by Edensor resident Angela Hodgkinson.
Sab Mach, Edensor Care Home Manager said, “We are over the moon that Colchester Catalyst has funded our project to have a purpose built end of life cabin. The team know the huge difference this resource will make to our residents and their families. The ‘Quiet Oasis’ will allow residents, families and friends to spend additional time together outside the care home, in a private space dressed like a cosy bedroom with sensory lights, music and scents, where medical support can be given as necessary by our nursing staff.”
Rodney Appleyard, Colchester Catalyst Charity’s Development Manager said, “In 2020 Colchester Catalyst supported Edensor’s innovative project to build a nostalgic train carriage for residents and the following year we donated towards two bespoke beach wheelchairs. We have seen what a success these two initiatives have been, so we were delighted to support its new ‘End of Life’ project. Our £15,000 donation will enable Edensor’s vision of building an end of life sensory cabin to become a reality and we are looking forward to seeing the finished ‘Quiet Oasis’ and hearing about the difference it will make to residents, their families and the Edensor team.”
The ground works and base for the new 3 x 4 metre cabin will be completed in August before building begins in September.
If you are interested in supporting Edensor, please contact the team to discuss how donations help support residents.
www.diagramafoundation.org.uk/senior-dementia-care/edensorcarehomeclacton
Edensor’s Deputy Manager and Nurse Lindsey Milliken explains why having a ‘Quiet Oasis’ will make such a difference to the residents, families and team at Edensor –
“There are many stories I could share about why ‘Quiet Oasis’ will be so important to our residents and their families but I thought Raymond’s story best explains why we desperately need this resource.
Towards the end of his life Raymond really wanted to go outside. His room was on the top floor of our care home and getting him and his bed down in the small lift and outside was not easy for the Edensor team or for Raymond. Eventually he was made comfortable in the garden but within minutes the weather changed and Raymond had to be taken back inside. The Edensor staff, Raymond and his family were all so disappointed. Sadly, Raymond passed away soon afterwards and didn’t get the chance to go outside again. We knew that there had to be a better way.
The ‘Quiet Oasis’ will give our residents the opportunity to be outside, to go into the garden or to see the trees and plants through the window and at night, if they want to, they will be able to look up to see the stars. Senses heighten at the end of life, so the room will be equipped with sensory lights, beautiful scents and they will be able to listen to their favourite music.
Building the ‘Quiet Oasis’ and giving people the final chance to stimulate their senses surrounded by loved ones and our skilled Edensor team is something that Raymond missed out on, but thanks to the generosity of Colchester Catalyst we’re delighted that other people will benefit from this fantastic project and the legacy of Raymond and others, who inspired this project, will live on.”
About Diagrama Foundation
Diagrama Foundation is a Kent based charity that supports vulnerable children, young people, and adults to live their best life.
Diagrama has a Supported Living Service across Bromley, three homes for adults with learning disabilities in Orpington, an eight-bed care home for adults with learning disabilities in West Sussex a fifty-bed care home for the elderly with nursing and dementia needs in Essex, and a fostering and adoption service in the southeast.
- The Supported Living Service, cares for 35 adults with learning disabilities, in nine homes across Bromley helping them to develop skills and confidence to live in their own house either on their own or with others.
- At Cabrini House in Orpington the charity promotes the development of core skills for 23 adults with learning disabilities so that they can lead independent lives integrated within their community.
- Duckyls Farm in West Sussex, a care home for eight residents with learning disabilities, joined the charity care provider in February 2023.
- The team at their nursing and dementia care home, Edensor Care Centre in Clacton on Sea, support vulnerable residents to live life to the full.
- Diagrama’s adoption and fostering service cares for children in South London, Kent, Sussex, and Surrey.
Many vulnerable children and adults don’t get the support they need to develop their true potential, but the Diagrama team know that when someone has time and belief invested in them, they come alive, because that investment has made them feel valued and worthy.
