Allachburn Care Home, Aberdeenshire

Allachburn Care Home, Aberdeenshire
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On Thursday 25th June Social and Cocktail Events brought its Community Cocktails project to the North East, with a cocktail party in the Allachburn Care Home in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire.

The Social and Cocktail team arrived at 2pm and began to set up in the main lounge of the care home, in which many of the elderly care home residents had already arrived. The resident were visibly excited about the party and were keen to see the menus featuring the cocktail and mocktails the bartender would be serving. The bar was set up and banners and props displaying scenes from 1920s prohibition America were put up all around the lounge – helping to create a more authentic blast from the past. The music of choice was provided jazz legend Duke Ellington.

The menu for the event consisted of the bourbon-based Old Fashioned, the sweet and tangy Raspberry Daiquiri and the Bramble, a delicious mix of gin, crème de cassis, lemon and sugar – topped with a blackberry. There was also a mocktail menu, which featured the popular Blueberry Mojito and the refreshing Summer Berry Sling.

CC collage

The Social and Cocktail bartender, Cameron, began the session with a brief overview of the history of cocktails and then gave a demonstration of how each cocktail was made. The residents began ordering with the help of the carers and soon everyone was sipping a delicious cocktail or mocktail. The Old-Fashioned proved a big hit with the male residents whilst the Bramble was very popular with the female residents, with many of them stating gin as their tipple of choice.

The residents had a great time, with the combination of drinks and music that brought them back to a period of time that still resonated with many of them.
Shona Omand-Smith, care manager, today said it is hoped more events can be held at the home.

She said: “Reminiscing can be a powerful way of communicating with a person with dementia. The event, which is also a bit of fun, actually helps contribute positively to the well-being of residents.

“Everyone had a great time and we will be looking to have more of these type of events.”

 damien

Written by damien

Posted: July 6, 2015