Published at 16:17, Friday, 19 August 2011

CARE home residents were given a treat when a horse-drawn carriage whisked them on a ride around the village.

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Black Horse Carriages of Cartmel trotted into the Old Vicarage residential home in Allithwaite to take the older people on a 10-minute jaunt around the surrounding Allithwaite lanes.

Sheila Ramsbottom, 80, said: “It was super. I could’ve kept going round and round. It was beautiful.

“I love horses and my husband did. I used to ride a bit when I was younger.”

Malcolm Wilson, 93, said: “It was very good, very nice. It’s my first time in a carriage more or less.”

Also among the people to enjoy a ride was 99-year-old Alice Foster – a resident at the Vicarage Lane home for 12 years.

She is due to turn 100 in December and used to help all her fellow residents by doing jobs around the home such as sewing, making curtains and taking up hems of dresses.

Pippa Whitehead, the home’s new activities co-ordinator, said: “We’ve organised it because I’ve just taken over doing the activities here and lots of the residents are a bit infirm and they don’t go outside, so we’re trying to bring different activities to them which are going to engage and motivate them.

“I had seen the horses around the village and they looked spectacular, and thought it would be something a bit different and something the residents could all do from their front door.

“We’re trying to follow what the residents’ hobbies were when they were at home and to incorporate them into what we do here.

“The owner’s mantra is they should be treated as you would want your parents to be treated, which is how we operate here.”

Other summer activities have included a strawberry tea party for the entire community, and a tea dance will be held at the end of the month.

An art therapist visits once a week and there is a film club, craft and gardening activities ongoing.

Owner Barbara Siddiqi said of the horses’ visit: “It’s lovely. It will take them back. It definitely takes me back.”

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