Friends and shared interests are an important part of life, and moving into a care home shouldn't put an end to that. At Doveleigh Care, residents are matched up with a member of staff with whom they have interests in common, and that staff member becomes their keyworker and is allocated extra time with the resident for activities they both enjoy.

Trevor Hunt is an activities co-ordinator at Arcot House in Sidmouth. Within a few days of starting his job in April 2019, he was introduced to Jeff, one of the few male residents at that time.

Trevor said: "We soon got to know each other and realised we shared many similar interests, mainly music, curries and gardening. I learned that Jeff used to play the saxophone in a jazz band in Sidmouth and often after a gig they went for a curry."

With Trevor allocated as Jeff's keyworker, the pair began to spend extra time together. Before lockdown, this included going to Jeff's favourite café in Sidmouth during the special one-to-one keyworker time, where they met up with some of Jeff's old friends. It was also agreed that Trevor and Jeff could spend some of their keyworker time making a curry every month.

Trevor said, "On one occasion, pre-Covid, we were fortunate enough to have his daughter visit and Jeff cooked a home-made curry from scratch with my support. We all enjoyed this together and it brought back some fond memories for Jeff and his daughter."

On another occasion, Jeff said he would love to go on a boat trip. Another resident from Dove Court in Seaton was also keen to get out on to the water, so a group of residents and staff from the two homes went out together and thoroughly enjoyed the outing.

Of course, the events of the last year have made events like these impossible – but Doveleigh Care has adapted to the restrictions.

Trevor said, "With the onset of Covid we were unable to invite family to join us and we have had to change the ways we carry out activities and keyworker time. With this, I soon focused on Jeff's other interests, gardening and music quizzes, which Jeff excels in.

"Jeff, along with other residents, would visit my allotment pre-Covid, so the director kindly agreed for us to have our own mini allotment with raised vegetable beds where we now grow our own vegetables. Jeff is keen to get out and help with this. We will then sit our garden shed, which we have called 'The Retreat', with a cup of tea."

A 'have-a-go' attitude to art

Another of the activities Trevor was able to continue during the pandemic was the weekly art club he leads - read more about it here. He encouraged Jeff to take part.

He said, "Jeff was a bit unsure about joining, but he has a 'have a go' attitude and I have admired this. Jeff is now a regular participant in this and has made great progress over the past year, as have many other residents. They find this very absorbing and therapeutic during these difficult times.

"Jeff and I now have a friendly relaxed relationship, always sharing a joke and being able to just be ourselves together."

The Senior Manager at Doveleigh Care, Samantha Evens, is very keen to encourage these resident/keyworker relationships, which have proved particularly valuable during the Covid pandemic and the lack of real-life contact with family members.

She said, "Jeff really feels it's beneficial to have a keyworker and even more so when they have similarities. Jeff said he likes it that Trevor has been encouraging him with artwork and improving his skills."

She added that Jeff's enjoyment of curry has led to the creation of a new curry club at Arcot House. After the first session being a big hit with residents, they have planned to have this on a monthly basis.