Chadwell House Residential Care Home in Essex

Teigan and a fabulous team of volunteers

Supporting the team are 20 fantastic community volunteers of all ages, who dedicate their time to further enrich the lives of the residents, helping them to feel truly part of the local community in Romford. They include Sanctuary Care’s youngest ever volunteer, 10-year-old Teigan, whose grandmother Sarah Cook lives at the care home. Teigan is an inspirational youngster who has raised over £1,000 for Chadwell House’s activities fund with a tombola stall.

The volunteers have just supported the team to transform the home’s gardens, painting the furniture, planting new flowers and making the area look splendid for the residents. The gardens are also the perfect place for children to play while families are visiting loved ones.

The home has its own karaoke machine so is often filled with the sound of singing. There is a magnificent, spacious atrium with high ceilings in the centre of the home where residents and the team sit together for sing-alongs. This area has just been refurbished and looks stunning.

Another delightful area of the care home is the vintage tea room, where residents can take visitors when they come to Chadwell House. With a French dresser filled with fine china, beautifully laid tables and tiered cake stands, the room is also used for private family parties. At the centre is a stunning clock, made with vintage crockery, which was lovingly crafted in memory of someone very special called Chris Gammons, who sadly passed away.

There is also a Namaste room, where residents can relax in a very calming and tranquil environment, experiencing a therapy that is both soothing and stimulates their senses.

The team at Chadwell House works very closely with the district nurses and the palliative care team in Redbridge, who support the home to provide end of life care for its residents, all of whom live with dementia.

Chadwell House is highly regarded in the local Romford community, who are very supportive when they host ‘open day’ events and fundraisers. One which always goes down a treat is the annual virtual cruise week, where residents experience the flavours and cultures of places around the globe in the heart of the home. One of these took them to the USA – with staff even dressing as the Statue of Liberty! 

Every year there are always mouth-watering cakes in abundance for the care home’s Time for a Cuppa fundraising tea party to support Dementia UK. The home also hosts Dementia Friends sessions to help people in the community who care for a loved one with dementia.