BIRDY. Gili the three-year-old laughing kookaburra with his handler Tilewa Ojo from Creature Teachers, right, and Canford Chase resident Joyce Hopper.
From Buttons to Brownies and cakes to a kookaburra, all the fun of the fair helped a Dorset care home raise more than £600 for a children’s cancer charity.
Colten Care’s Canford Chase home in Branksome Park, Poole, used its annual jamboree to seal a year’s fundraising for the Bournemouth-based Youth Cancer Trust.
Residents and visitors enjoyed performances from traditional Morris dance troupe the Dorset Buttons, now in their 36th year, and Union Jack-clad stiltwalker, Jules the Entertainer.
Girl Guides and Brownies helped by running a cake stall while a visit from animal education experts Creature Teachers brought guests face-to-face with a pair of raccoons, a chinchilla, a laughing kookaburra and a barn owl.
The fair culminated in the presentation of a giant £613 cheque, representing funds raised for the Youth Cancer Trust during the past year by Canford Chase.
Home Manager Charlotte Wilson said: “We had a lovely fair and it was an honour to present the cheque on behalf of everyone at the home who has helped out through donations and other fundraising activities.”
The Youth Cancer Trust provides holidays for young people across the UK who are suffering with cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
Founder Brenda Clark, who accepted the cheque, said: “This money will enable us to provide two young people with desperately-needed free holidays. It’s absolutely fantastic.”
Colten Care runs 19 care homes across Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire, all of whom support nominated charities as part of their activities programmes.
Colten Care services include residential, nursing, respite and dementia care. The family-run group is determined to set the highest standards in all aspects of care of the older person.
Jules the Entertainer at Colten Care’s Canford Chase home in Poole with Home Manager Charlotte Wilson (right). Helping with the fair were Guides and Brownies including, from left, Faye Shearing, 11, Lauren Ellis, ten, and Sophie Smith, 14.
