Ryman residents show their appreciation

Hundreds of Ryman residents have shown thanks to the team who looked after them through lockdown with a barrage of cards, compliments, cupcakes, chocolate, music and applause.

Residents at Bruce McLaren village gathered on their balconies in the early days of the Level 4 lockdown in March to spontaneously clap the team on the ground below.

In Melbourne Nellie Melba Village residents flooded onto their balconies with thank you signs and applause.

Edmund Hillary’s team were rewarded with a chocolate shout organised by residents, while the team at Rita Angus were shouted pizza by one grateful family.

At Diana Isaac in Christchurch, residents had themed dress-ups each week to applaud the team and keep them amused.

Diana Isaac’s residents chose a different village team to salute each week – including dressing up in gardening gear for their gardeners’ salute – and singing ‘you are my sunshine’.

Village poet Murray Lennox kept the team’s spirits up with a steady stream of poetry.

At Margaret Stoddart in Christchurch, one resident decided to serenade the team as a thank you, much to the surprise of village manager Merrin Jack.

“Ingrid and I were doing some planning in my office at the end of the day, and she said, is that a harp playing?

“Outside my window, one of our town house residents had brought his Irish harp, and his wife brought his chair, and he was sitting under the portico playing the harp for us. No one else was around and it was just a purely beautiful way of acknowledging what we were doing and showing support for us.’’

“I must confess that it was a pretty magic moment, and my eyes may have leaked a bit,” Merrin says.

At Malvina Major in Wellington residents fluttered their tea towels in a salute – which is a bit quieter than banging pots and pans.

The accolades flew in by card and email as well.

And it is no surprise given the huge amount of work our teams did to keep everyone safe and happy.

During lockdown they delivered 80,000 Happy Hour in a Bags, and thousands of Bidfood orders, newsletters and parcels.

As well as keeping their residents safe, our care teams helped connect thousands of residents with their families over Zoom calls.

The IT team rolled out Zoom to more than 3,800 surfaces and delivered 70 additional devices to serviced apartment residents to help them keep in touch.

Pictured: Michelle Forman prepares Happy Hour in a Bag.