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Care home residents pose for fundraising calendar

Sauvage Photography Pam Haylip smiles at the camera as she stands in a garden. She is wearing a blue gilet with a purple cardigan, and white T-shirt with a flower pattern on the front. She has short grey hair and is wearing glasses. Sauvage Photography
Resident Pam Haylip is featured in the calendar after being photographed at the care home's summer fate

A care home said it hoped sales of a calendar featuring its residents would help pay for new raised beds for their garden.

Diamond House Care Home in Downham Market, Norfolk, usually has a busy activity schedule for its residents, which was captured in the featured photos.

The images that make up the calendar include a visit from a Shetland pony and a battle between residents with toy Nerf guns, which shoot out foam darts, in the day room.

The staff and photographer wanted to challenge perceptions of what life was like for those living in a residential home.

Allison Webster smiles at the camera as she holds up a calendar with "Diamond House 2025" written on the top. She is wearing a green polo shirt and has brown hair. A number of residents are sitting in a room behind her.
Allison Webster says fundraising helps the care home offer residents more activities

Allison Webster, the activities coordinator at Diamond House, said it was a chance to share the life of the care home with the wider community.

"We do some really weird and wonderful activities here and its nice for everybody to see.

"A lot of people think in a care home it's all about bingo and knitting. But we do Nerf gun wars, have animals in and we do crafts."

Each calendar will go on sale for £9, and the initial print run of 100 calendars has been funded by local business sponsorship. This means that all the funds collected from sales will go towards reaching the fundraising target of £900.

Sauvage Photography Close up of Chelsea Savage smiling at the camera. She has blonde hair, is wearing glasses and has a nose piercing. Sauvage Photography
Photographer Chelsea Savage wanted to challenge perceptions of what life in a care home was like

Photographer Chelsea Savage took the pictures used in the calendar.

"Everyone has special moments to capture whether it's the start of life, birthdays, weddings, towards the end of life - everyone has family that wants those moments captured forever."

She said the calendar perfectly summed up Diamond House. "Fun, life, doing things and not just sitting around in a care home."

One of the residents featured in the calendar is Pam Haylip.

She was hopeful that the project would raise enough money to make improvements to the garden which she loves. Yet, she added that she was finding the attention her picture was receiving "very embarrassing".

"They all keep saying you know Pam it looks cool. But you don't see yourself like that do you!"

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