Acts of kindness are long remembered

Kind-hearted residents and staff at a number of care homes have been spreading joy through a number of ‘random’ acts.

Random Acts of Kindness Day is held each February and to mark the occasion, Colten Care homes in Ferndown, Poole and New Milton spread some happiness in the community. At Kingfishers in New Milton, residents boxed up gifts of freshly-made shortbread, adding messages of their own and labels that read ‘From us to you, made with care’ and ‘Spread a little kindness’.

Customer advisor Tracy McCallum then distributed the boxes to contacts in the town including the local GP surgery, church, school and community centre.

Kingfishers resident June Price said: “This was such a lovely idea, to thank our friends in the community for all the hard work they do.”

At Amberwood House in Ferndown, one theme for

Kindness Day involved caring for plants in borders right outside the building.

Gardener Lyn Read was aware wisteria vines, a rose bush and a fuchsia might have to be lost due to renovation work being carried out to improve the dining room and lounge, with a lack of alternative garden space for replanting.

So, she got to work, carefully dug out the plants and rehomed them with Liz and Jon Doyle, daughter and son-in-law of resident Mary Whitehouse, after the couple expressed a wish to save them.

As well as taking plants for their own garden, Liz and Jon have donated some of the vines to the Blandford Museum Gardens, where they volunteer. Companionship team member, Sharon McVicar, said: “This was a lovely act of kindness from all parties involved as otherwise these poor plants would have been left to die.”

Amberwood House was also one of several Colten Care homes where residents wrote ‘postcards of kindness’ to be delivered to people and organisations in the community. And at Canford Chase in Poole, residents painted messages of inspiration and joy on ‘kindness rocks’ and added designs to felt hearts and flowers.

Companionship team member Justin Corder, who brought in homemade cookies for everyone as his own ‘random act’, said: “We started off the day by discussing what kindness means and then once we began our painting, we decided we would place the finished rocks outside in the garden and other places where people would see them.

“We agreed that the simple act of giving a token gift, a flower or making someone smile helps you release happy endorphins and boosts the soul.”