Festive care homes across Dorset have ushered in the Chinese New Year with colourful dragon dances, feasts, craft making and tai chi.
Residents, team members and visitors all came together for fun activities to welcome the start of the Year of the Fire Horse.
At Fernhill, Colten Care’s dementia care home in Longham near Bournemouth, staff performed a traditional dragon dance, believed to bring good luck and prosperity for the year ahead.
Resident Michelle, who happily tapped her feet along while watching the show, said later: “I particularly enjoyed listening to the Chinese New Year music.”
After the dance, residents sampled a lunch of Chinese treats with the opportunity to find a surprise fortune cookie.
Companion Ann Marie Knight said: “Residents had great fun reading aloud their fortunes and lucky numbers. It sparked plenty of laughter and conversation.”
Also heralding the Year of the Fire Horse was Colten Care’s Castle View in Poundbury. Amid red and gold decorations, staff and residents enjoyed a lively dragon dance followed by a Chinese-themed quiz and trivia session.
The Fire Horse is one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, along with five elements. The zodiac has a 60-year cycle of combinations, with the last Year of the Fire Horse occurring in 1966.
In traditional Chinese culture, the horse is associated with freedom and speed while fire symbolises intensity and urgency.
Colten Care’s Newstone House in Sturminster Newton meanwhile marked the end of the previous Chinese year, the Year of the Wood Snake, with a supervised snake-handling session.
“It was a great opportunity for those residents who were brave enough to hold a slithery visitor or two,” said Companionship Team Leader Lora Misheva.
