DEDICATED workers at a care home received a surprise celebration on National Nurses Day.

Nursing staff at the Old Vicarage Care Home in Askam were awarded gift packages, messages of thanks from residents and tucked into a special celebratory cake.

Care home manager Carol Lewis arranged the event to give back to the nursing staff who had gone ‘over and above’ while caring for residents during the pandemic.

Carol said: “Our nursing staff, just like those across the country, have risked everything to deliver outstanding care to our residents over the past year.

“Many of our staff have been with us from before the pandemic and getting through it together while keeping each other and our residents safe has been an incredible achievement.

“I wanted to do something special for our team to show them how much they are appreciated.”

Carol, along with care home activities coordinator, came up with the idea for the celebration.

The nursing staff were presented with care packages filled with chocolates, wine and other goodies.

Residents also wrote thank you notes to the staff which were read out during the celebration in the home’s new sensory garden.

Carol said: “It was great to be able to use our new sensory garden for the event.

“The garden and summer house has been built from scratch by the home’s maintenance staff and includes sensory plants to help stimulate the senses of our residents with dementia. We are still in the process of finishing it and eventually it will have a flowing water feature.

“It’s important that our residents with dementia get to experience nature, and they really enjoy the sights, sounds and smells in the sensory garden.”

Carol added: “Carers have been the forgotten few during the pandemic and we wanted to celebrate how valued our nurses are.”