Banbury care home residents win floristry competition

Residents at Barchester’s Glebefields care home in Drayton, Banbury won a floristry competition run by London-based florists, Blooming Haus. Residents and staff were treated to an interactive virtual floristry masterclass courtesy of Master Florist, Michal Kowalski, from Blooming Haus.

They were invited to gather together flowers and foliage chosen by themselves and follow Michal’s demonstration to create their own displays. Residents’ arrangements were then entered into a Facebook competition judged by Michal and the visionaries behind Blooming Haus.

Glebefields beat over a hundred other entries to win with their stunning wreaths, handcrafted using homemade dried fruits, cinnamon sticks, and Pussy Willow and pine cones collected from the gardens. Assisted by our activities coordinator Kay, residents Alvar, Paul, Myrtle, Francis, Marianne and Bert were assisted in bringing their imagination to life during the workshop.

They took inspiration from their memories of mulled wine, and family Christmas’ around the tree. Their prize is £100 in Love2Shop vouchers which they plan to spend on plants and blubs for their new sensory garden.

Michal Kowalski, master florist from Blooming Haus, said: “The care sector has endured such a tough time of late, residents unable to see their loved ones, and carers working extremely hard.

"So we leapt at the chance when Barchester approached us to stage a zoom flower arranging class. It’s a great opportunity for Blooming Haus to give something back. We were blown away by the number and quality of the entries to our competition. We had a fantastic time choosing the winners but in truth we wish would could give everyone a prize.”

Nisha Shaji, general manager at Glebefields care home, said: “This was a virtual flower arranging demonstration with a difference. It was wonderful that our residents were able to follow along and create their own floral displays using foliage sourced from our own garden and dried fruits created during a previous activity session with our ex-florist activities lead; Kay. The cherry on the cake is that we won, I am so proud of our residents and their creativity.”