Foxhunters

Foxhunters Care Community in Abergavenny is a 70-bed home providing residential, nursing and dementia care. The team takes a holistic approach, supporting each resident’s physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. A varied activity programme helps residents stay connected to their memories and sense of identity, with staff taking time to understand each person’s life story and what matters to them.

Foxhunters recognised that food and cooking play a powerful role in sparking memories and building connections. To celebrate residents’ life stories, staff worked with them to create ‘From the Heart of Home’ - a recipe book Capturing favourite dishes and the memories behind them.

They did this by:

• spending time with residents to explore their favourite meals from childhood through to later life
• collecting life stories to sit alongside the recipes, including accounts from residents like former schoolteacher Lilian, who shared how her mother posted Welsh faggots to her at university in a shoebox
• using the project as a reminiscence activity and encouraging residents to share their life stories
• publishing a recipe book so residents and families could keep and share these memories

For many the project became a meaningful reminiscence activity. Familiar tastes and smells helped spark conversations, prompt memories and generate joy.

• Residents feel valued as staff take time listen to and record their memories, recipes and stories
• Reminiscence conversations spark connection and confidence, especially for residents living with dementia
• Residents feel pride and joy in seeing their dishes brought to life, both in print and on the plate
• Families feel proud to see their loved ones’ stories shared and celebrated
• The recipe book has become a meaningful keepsake, preserving personal stories and histories for future generations

Most of these recipes came from a time when cooking was an expression of love. Capturing the dishes and the stories behind them means these memories will never be lost.