Broomgrove will do all in its power to continue face-to-face visits throughout the Coronavirus pandemic.

We were one of the first homes of its type in the country to allow a return to family members visiting residents in June following the original lockdown in March. 

Broomgrove believes the mental wellbeing benefits provided by face-to-face visits, far outweigh the risks providing things are done in a safe manner and follow strict guidance.

The home was one of the first in the region to utilize technology to allow residents to communicate with relatives, but it didn’t work for everyone.

Donna Pierpoint, the manager at Broomgrove Care Home, said: “Many residents took very quickly to using Skype and Facetime and other technology, but others didn’t. The original lockdown proved there really is no replacement for face-to-face visits and we’re determined to continue.

“Planning and managing them in a safe manner is hard but these visits are so important. Relatives have been incredibly supportive of our decision.”

All relatives visiting Broomgrove Nursing Home are required to use PPE, complete risk assessments, social distance and follow strict infection control guidance.

“I think many people forget that many of our residents are some of the strongest people on the planet”, Donna Pierpoint added. 

“They lived through the harshness of World War Two and the Sheffield Blitz. They deserve dignity and respect. A care home shouldn’t be a prison.”

There have been no cases of Covid 19 so far at Broomgrove Nursing Home.

After six months in lockdown it was a celebration tinged with more than emotion than usual. 

Broomgrove Care Home residents lined up to say goodbye to four young care home staff that have landed places at university. 

The employees – that have cared for residents throughout lockdown – are all pursuing further education within the healthcare industry.

Their send-off, which was scaled down because of Covid, was no less emotional with residents presenting cards, gifts and messages of good will for their future.

Many of the students won’t be leaving altogether – some will continue to work at Broomgrove Nursing Home and do ‘bank’ shifts in between their studies.

The four leavers were Lucy Greetham who’s going on to study nursing at Sheffield Hallam University; Charlotte Widlake who’s studying nursing at Sheffield Hallam University; Sam Livingstone who’s studying nursing at the University of Sheffield and Rehna Naqvi who’s studying midwifery at Edge Hill University.

Donna Pierpoint, the manager at Broomgrove Care Home, said: “If anything this year’s sendoff was all the more emotional as closer bonds have been formed because of lockdown. But residents are so keen for the young people to do well in their careers and were very determined to give them a good send off. It was a lovely event.”

They were arguably the two darkest nights in the history of Sheffield and our residents have been re-living them to ensure their experiences are never forgotten.

Local author Neil Anderson is collecting stories for an 80^th anniversary edition of his best-selling ‘Sheffield’s Date With Hitler’ book.

Residents of Broomgrove Nursing Home didn’t even let lockdown get in the way of re-telling their stories – they used Skype.

Resident Ernest Barron, a former director of SWFC, was living in Wadsley Bridge at the time and vividly remembers the devastation following the first night of the Sheffield Blitz of December 1940.

He said: “I still remember walking up Snig Hill and Angel Street and seeing the devastation. The Marples building had been flattened in Fitzalan Square killing scores of people. Walsh’s department store had been destroyed –  only cast iron girders remained erect. The Empire Theatre had a bomb crater on fire outside and it was nothing but devastation on the Moor. I will never forget memory of seeing the body of a man laid on Ecclesall Road.”

The Sheffield Blitz killed and wounded over 2,000 people and made a tenth of the city homeless. It took the city years to recover.

Fellow Broomgrove resident Hugh Bradbury recalls hearing the anti-aircraft fire springing into life. He knew the attack was no false alarm. He was 10-years-old at the time. He watched the stricken city burning from his bedroom in Ecclesfield  and knew of two people that lost their lives.

Donna Pierpoint, manager of Broomgrove Nursing Home, said: “Our residents have lived such long and amazing lives and it’s great when their incredible knowledge can be used in this way. They were only too pleased to get involved.”

The new edition of ‘Sheffield’s Date With Hitler’ will be out to mark the 80^thanniversary of the attacks and be published in the autumn.