Flowers Colouring Highfields Aged Care Community

Highfields aged care residents are getting into the spirit of the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers. Seniors who live at Carinity Brownesholme have transformed the aged care community for its spring carnival celebrations.

Over the past few months enthusiastic residents attended weekly workshops where they made more than 2,000 paper flowers which now decorate the Carinity Brownesholme building

The centrepiece of the display is in the building’s foyer, where a stairway has been transformed to look like a cascading waterfall with platypus and water lilies.

“The residents have been so invested in getting the decorations up and the whole place has a buzz about it,” said Carinity Brownesholme Diversional Therapist, Jeannie Healy.

“It has been lovely spending time setting it all up with them. Now we are seeing the residents’ own areas getting decorated as they say they are inspired – which was secretly our goal.”

 
Joan Bell, Doreen Rose and Joyce Larkens with some paper flowers they made for Carinity Brownesholme aged care's spring display

With the environment in mind, savvy residents created flowers from disused products. This included repurposing clean food place mats and reclaiming colourful wrappers off other products.

Family members also knitted and crocheted flowers to donate to Carinity Brownesholme’s spring carnival project.

“We are encouraging our residents to be bright and bold and colour our world,” said Residential Manager, Tanya Sheldrick. 

“As well as the colourful flowers, our residents are being engaged by enjoying the specially curated secret garden and other spring displays around the site.

“The secret garden is particularly lovely as residents seem to discover something new there each time they see the display.”

Residents and their families are being encouraged to decorate their living spaces with flowers, with awards to be presented for best dressed doors, windows and balconies.

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