Meat-free hot dogs and pecan pie were top of the menu at a vegan festival held at Barchester’s Harper Fields Care Home in Balsall Common, where staff, residents, family and friends came together to celebrate World Vegan Day and try something a little bit different.
A large marquee was set up at the home and filled with hay bales, scarecrows, pumpkins, blankets, cushions and hand-painted signs. Relaxing folk music played as residents and guests arrived wrapped in blankets, hats and scarves to enjoy the festival on the crisp and sunny autumn afternoon.
The event was organised by the care home’s activities co-ordinator, Hannah Mulholland (Barchester Healthcare’s Activities Co-ordinator of the Year 2016), who is a vegan and found that the people she cares for at Harper Fields are always curious about what she eats, especially on celebratory occasions such as bonfire night and Christmas.
At the event, guests were served up vegan hot dogs and onions, curried beans, jacket potatoes, mulled hot apple juice, hot chocolate, toffee apples and Hannah made her signature pecan pie with soya pouring cream. Everything served was 100 per cent plant based with no meat, fish or dairy to be seen.
Many of us have dietary requirements or make dietary choices, which we would expect to be respected throughout our entire lives and Harper Fields, which is run by Barchester Healthcare, is committed to recognising and respecting these choices.
Hannah explains: “We wanted to show that we are take all of our residents’ and future residents’ dietary requirements seriously, so we had our very own outdoor autumn themed Vegan festival at Harper Fields to coincide with World Vegan day on the 1 November!
“Residents, staff and their families loved every mouthful as there was not a morsel left at the end of the afternoon.
“I’m pretty sure we are the first care home in the UK to do this and I think it is important that we try new and exciting things.”
