Garden Visits Return to Moorside

We are very pleased to announce that St John’s Moorside specialist dementia care home are now be able to offer garden visits.

During the COVID-19 crisis and lockdown in the UK, visits between residents and their family members had been halted to prevent the spread of infection.

However, in keeping with government guidelines and a gradual easing of lockdown measures in England, we are happy that our residents and their loved ones can now meet face to face.

Visiting is Moorside’s spacious, verdant garden started from Monday 13th July 2020.

Face to face meetings have been greatly missed, and social distancing of 2 metres will apply to ensure safety for everyone involved.

How will you monitor and manage garden visits?

For the peace of mind, safety and wellbeing of our residents, volunteers, staff and residents’ family members, we have issued a series of rules to follow that will apply for all visits.

We have advised relatives to book a date and time with the Home prior to visiting – this is for capacity and safety purposes. For our contact details, please click the link here.

Hand sanitisation and good hand hygiene is still a top priority. It is required on entering the garden gate, and we have hand sanitiser dispenser conveniently located across the Home and the charity’s sites.

In keeping with government guidelines, we have explained to all relatives that masks are to be worn at all times during the visit. We encourage people to bring their own mask wherever possible, however we are able to supply them to visitors if required.

There are one-way signs conveniently placed around the garden, as well as 2 metre social distancing markers, signs and stickers on the ground and on tables. We will be carrying our regular cleaning of the garden furniture, also.

We fully understand and appreciate that visitors may want to hug and be close to their loved one after being apart for so long during lockdown. However in the safety and best interests of our residents and their family members, we strongly advise that everyone refrains from doing so at this stage.

Moorside and the whole charity are doing well and managing the situation admirably, and a gradual move forward is the safest plan for all.

Our dedicated maintenance and cleaning teams are currently working to arrange a room inside the Home to allow for face to face visits indoors. We will also be putting up gazebos at both Moorside and the Almshouses‘ outdoor spaces to allow for social distanced visits. The gazebos will offer protection from wind, rain and bright sunshine. Further updates on this will be shared in the coming days.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank the community for their patience, support and ongoing good wishes.