Eskbank care home residents put in the picture

With care homes facing extraordinary difficulties during the Covid-19 pandemic, Highbank Care Home in Eskbank finally has something to smile about, thanks to the kindness of the local community.

Highbank resident Helen Moncur with one of the TVs donated to the home.

Due to lockdown restrictions Highbank’s 40 residents are unable to access their usual activities and, in a number of cases, had no TVs in their rooms for entertainment.

However, local people rallied to help, led by Eskbank and Newbattle Community Council(ENCC). The call went out to the community last week to consider donating any spare TVs for residents who did not have one. The response, kick-started by members of the Rotary Club of Esk Valley, was overwhelming and now there is a TV in every room.

Aline Brown, assistant manager at the care home, said the arrival of the TVs has been fantastic: “During lockdown, activities can only be done individually in rooms and it takes staff some time to get round them. The televisions break-up the mundanity for residents and help the day go faster. When residents are in bed, we can turn them round so they can watch it comfortably. Having the TVs has made a huge difference.”

Householders in Newbattle Abbey Crescent have donated a supply of welcome toiletries and, with the generous help of Tesco Hardengreen and Dalkeith’s branch of WH Smith, ENCC has provided arts and crafts materials, crossword puzzles and books, to help keep the residents at Highbank occupied during the lockdown.

Highbank’s manager, Katherine Malone, said she’d never seen anything like it: “We can’t believe all the kindness we’ve been shown.

“We’ve had collections of toiletries handed in by neighbourhood groups, local shops donating activities and books, and now, to top it all off - all these TVs.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable and it’s making such a difference to the lives of our residents at this really difficult time. It’s lovely to see all the smiles and appreciation.

“We’re so grateful to the ENCC for organising it all and to the community for coming together like this. It’s great to see something good come out of this awful situation everyone’s dealing with.”

The ENCC is still collecting books and jigsaws for residents in sheltered housing at nearby Glenesk House. If you have any you’d like to donate, email – [email protected].

Message from your editor

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world.  

But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.

Janet Bee