Dec 2019
OSJCT residents in Oxfordshire enjoy their Christmas ball
Residents, volunteers and employees from Oxfordshire care homes run by The Orders of St John Care Trust (OSJCT) celebrated Christmas with an afternoon of good food, even better company and plenty of dancing.
More than 150 people attended the annual regional Christmas party held at a hotel in Oxford. The theme for this year was ‘Ballgowns and Bowties’. All attendees looked amazing.
Residents were treated to a traditional Christmas lunch followed by some delicious pudding before enjoying some great live music.
Awards were also presented to the winners of the ‘Most Creative Christmas Tree’ competition. The trees were judged on creativity, uniqueness, design and most importantly, resident participation.
Each home in Oxfordshire entered and it was tough to pick just one winner, with Langford View taking home first prize. The team had held a pub night where families came and helped the residents decorate the tree. Everyone got involved - their men’s woodworking group crafted all of the wooden ornaments and painted the wooden layers whilst their knitting group crafted the ornaments.
Spencer court came a close second with their tree made by pom poms hand-made by residents. Henry Cornish took home third prize. Every single resident in their home was involved in making their tree which really impressed the judges.
The Trust’s Head of Volunteering, Catherine Semmence said: “Our Oxfordshire Christmas Ball was a lot of fun. You can always tell the levels of enjoyment by how much singing and dancing takes place, and there sure were a lot of our residents and employees on the dance floor which was great to see. Thank you to everyone that made the day such a success. And a special thank you and congratulations to our homes for creating such excellent trees for the competition.”