Ryland View Nursing Home’s Chef Nominated for Black Country Care Award for New Bistro Initiative
4 October 2023
Ryland View’s Head Chef, Rebecca Hazelton’s idea was to bring Residents together with their neighbours in the care home by providing a smaller, more intimate and relationship centred dining experience. Ryland View has 5 separate household units on site and without support the Residents struggle to get out of their own household to meet their neighbours.
Rebecca transformed a small room to accommodate up to 6 diners into a bistro type atmosphere where fine food and wine can be selected from a specially designed menu adapted for elderly residents living with sensory impairments or disabilities. Rebecca said “We wanted to create a really special experience and so we send out official invitations to every Resident to come and dine with us. Our Wellbeing Coordinators then offer them grooming pampers so that they can look their best and help them to pick out their favourite clothes. It creates a sense of excitement for the Residents and for the staff and creates fantastic opportunities for connecting people despite barriers.”
Rebecca even dons her tall chef’s hat and serves the meals herself and she thoroughly enjoys spending time with all the people who live in the care home and getting them involved. The team at Ryland had a competition amongst the Residents to decide on the name for the bistro and the final winner was Brenda Randell, age 90, (pictured with House Manager Rico) who was guest of honour on the opening day. Brenda said “I chose the name because the kitchen is the heart and soul of this care home. Myself and all of the other Residents thought it was a fantastic idea and we love meeting new people and having a proper dining out experience so close to home.”
