Retirement village gets in the festive spirit

Shoppers and local families started the festive season with a Christmas afternoon event at a retirement village in Chorley.

The annual extravaganza at Buckshaw Retirement Village included more than a dozen stalls by a range of local suppliers; including locally made cheeses, fresh cakes and handmade crafts, festive activities and a visit from Santa in his grotto.

The chefs and catering manager Gary Williams also created a luxury festive menu for the day, which included turkey and stuffing brioche, traditional mince pies and mulled wine. Chef Des Sheriff has also created an impressive Christmas cake which is available to win on the day of the event.

Phil Hill, director at Buckshaw, said: “The Christmas fete is always a fantastic event at Buckshaw. It is the perfect opportunity to invite in the entire community, local schools and small businesses into the village.

“We welcome some of the best small businesses from the area to showcase their fantastic products at the event. It is always a very popular event.

“The residents had a fantastic time preparing to welcome everyone into the retirement village; including helping to decorate the many Christmas trees throughout the building and creating crafts to sell at the Christmas fete.”

“Through working with our local community church from Midge Hall, a knit and natter group now meets once a week at the village, and the group have been using their time to create a range of handmade gifts which were sold at the fete.

Buckshaw Retirement Village is part of The Hica Group, a not for profit organisation, which operates a portfolio of 19 residential care homes, five of which are for people with a learning disability, along with two retirement villages.