Cherry Wood Grange celebrates Turkish culture with language café

The Turkish language café was held at our home in Chelmsford and gave residents the opportunity to learn about Turkish traditions through food, language and dance.

Our home hosts monthly language cafés to celebrate the different cultures represented within the home community.

The latest café was led by care assistant Nikki Roome, who has embraced Turkish culture since marrying her husband, Cagri Bayram, four years ago. Since then, Nikki has developed a passion for Turkish food and language, learning to cook traditional dishes and becoming confident speaking Turkish.

Resident Peter White, aged 96, said: “I remember going on holiday to Turkey and really loved it, so the afternoon brought back wonderful memories.”

Fellow resident John Bone, aged 86, joined in with the Turkish dancing, he said: “It was an interesting afternoon tasting the different Turkish foods, and learning a few words and phrases. I do like a dance, so it was fun to learn a few moves!”

During the event, Nikki taught residents and colleagues several Turkish words and phrases and introduced them to traditional Turkish dancing, with everyone encouraged to join in and learn the moves.

Nikki prepared traditional Turkish bread and sweet treats for residents to sample. She said: “I love Turkish food and culture. The food is delicious and I have learnt how to make lots of traditional dishes and can speak the language quite well now.

“It was lovely to share some Turkish words with the residents and team members and show them a little bit about the culture. Everyone had great fun trying the dancing and the residents really enjoyed the food, especially the baklava.”

The language cafés were launched by the care team to celebrate the different cultures of both residents and colleagues and have become a regular highlight in the home’s activities calendar.

Previous language cafes have focussed on Poland, Germany, India and South Africa.

Bex Harmer, lifestyle at Cherry Wood Grange, said: “Ahead of each café, we take a few of the residents shopping to source some specialities from the chosen country. This time we popped to Home Foods, a lovely Turkish shop.

“The shopping trip adds to the excitement, and the residents love to browse the shelves and ask the shopkeepers their advice on what to select.”

Sue Smith, manager at Cherry Wood Grange, added: “Our language cafés can be a real talking point in the home. They create new experiences for some residents, while bringing back wonderful memories for others.

“They bring a real sense of connection and are a brilliant way of honouring and celebrating the variety of cultures we’re lucky to have in our home.

“Our aim is to create a stimulating, fulfilling environment for our residents, and the language cafés are often lively with music, dancing and delicious food.

“The cafés bring so much joy and happiness to our home and are a wonderful way of bringing everyone together.”

The home’s next language café will focus on Scotland.

Cherry Wood Grange Care Home is located on Writtle Road in Chelmsford. The 66-bed care home provides residential, respite, specialist dementia and nursing care.