Sale care home residents and pupils join forces for Harvest Festival fun

A care home in Sale has joined forces with local primary school children to celebrate Harvest Festival. 

Residents at Care UK's Oakfield Croft celebrate the harvest festival © Care UK

Residents at Care UK’s Oakfield Croft, on Oakfield, were joined by St Mary’s CE Primary School children for an afternoon as they celebrated the annual festival. 

 Everyone enjoyed an afternoon learning about the origins of the festival, what it means for today’s society and why this long-standing tradition should not be forgotten. The youngsters and residents also spent time together reading Harvest Festival-themed poetry and singing.

Each year, Harvest Festival celebrates the time when crops have been gathered from fields and people can reflect and show gratitude for the food that they have. It dates back to when people relied on local crops for food and farmers would give thanks for a good harvest.

Commenting on the afternoon’s celebrations, resident Joan Heald, 92, said: “I thought it was wonderful that the children came in for the Harvest Festival and they were all very well behaved. 

“It made me remember when I was a child and made me think how short we were of all foods, in particular vegetables. During the war, our garden was overturned to help feed us and we grew our own vegetables. 

“If you saw an apple now on a tree you would probably ignore it but when I was a child you climbed up for it. It’s very different for children nowadays, so it’s very important to keep up traditions to help remind us of how fortunate we are now.”

Daniel Cole, home manager at Oakfield Croft, said: “It was fantastic to welcome St Mary’s CE Primary School children to Oakfield Croft to celebrate the annual Harvest Festival tradition and explore its importance today.

“Harvest Festival is a day in the calendar where we can reflect and show gratitude for the food that we have, while serving as an opportunity to connect with others, regardless of age or background, which helps make Sale a great place to call home. 

“Everyone had an a-maize-ing day and we’re already looking forward to our next event with St Mary’s CE Primary School children as we race towards Christmas!”

To find out more about Care UK’s Harvest Festival, visit careuk.com/harvest-festival.