The Tank Museum delights residents at Gillingham care home

 Residents at Care South’s St Martins Grange care home in Gillingham were  delighted to welcome representatives from The Tank Museum to the home for a fantastic Second World War reminiscence session.

The interactive session gave residents the chance to hold artifacts and   memorabilia from the era and they were even more excited when given the  opportunity to dress up in period costume including hats and jackets’. The visit took place in the home’s lounge which was decorated especially for the occasion with Union Jack bunting and old photographs.

The session was a great success, as it allowed residents to share their memories of the war with the group including tales from experiences in the Land Army.

Karen Mandle, Home Manager at Care South’s St Martins Grange, said: “We would like to say a big thank you to The Tank Museum for visiting us and bringing their fascinating memorabilia with them. The workshop was really interactive and the sensory nature of the visit meant it was perfect for our residents. At St Martins Grange we work hard to ensure we plan a varied activities    programme that will have something for everyone.”

The Tank Museum is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset.  The collection holds almost 300  vehicles on exhibition from 26 countries and is the largest collection of tanks and the third largest collection of armoured vehicles in the world.

Deputy Head Teacher Mrs Sandy took a band from Abbey School Shaftesbury, over to St Mary’s Primary Orchestral Day led by Sarah Pugh.

Shaftesbury Primary School and St Andrews  were also in attendance.

The morning was spent practicing and in the afternoon the children performed a  concert for the parents.