Reel attraction

To preserve captured moments in the history of Freemasonry, the Library and Museum is digitising masonic films to enable anyone to view them

The Library and Museum stores and cares for collections of older records on behalf of Grand Lodge and the masonic charities. Among these are films such as a 1929 newsreel of a ceremony marking the extension at Treloar Hospital in Hampshire, and a film made for the RMBI in 1978 entitled Life in Our Homes. 

Former head of the East Anglian Film Archive David Cleveland was asked by the Library and Museum to undertake a survey of the film reels to identify duplicates, and to advise on methods of destruction for some of the duplicate material. 

Current recommendations are for the transfer of reel film to digital media for long-term preservation. The process is costly but the Library and Museum has received support from London’s Screen Archives (LSA), which transferred 16 film titles to digital media at no charge, courtesy of the British Film Institute’s Unlocking Film Heritage Digitisation Fund. The digitisation was completed by Prime Focus in London’s Soho.

All 16 titles will be accessible with full descriptions at the LSA website. After copying, the reel films are kept in specialist storage at the London Metropolitan Archives. With half of the film titles in its collection now available online, the Library and Museum is working on ways to preserve the rest of its film collection. 

Films can currently be viewed at the BFI Player portal: http://player.bfi.org.uk/search 

Care home celebrates two special birthdays

In September, an RMBI care home in Mid Glamorgan celebrated its fortieth anniversary and the one-hundredth birthday of resident Lina Joshua.

To mark the anniversary, Albert Edward Prince of Wales Court care home and its Association of Friends planned a weekend of parties and activities. Lina’s birthday in September means she has joined a growing number of centenarians in RMBI care homes. 

Mayor of Porthcawl, Cllr Michael Clarke, spent the day at the home and read Lina’s birthday cards to her, and the Albert Edward Prince of Wales Court choir entertained residents and guests. Later, residents enjoyed an afternoon tea dance with music from the Jeff Guppy Band. Residents and staff took turns around the dance floor and the home’s choirmaster brought everyone together for a singalong.

A joyful occasion

In the evening, a gala dinner was held in honour of the anniversary, attended by the new Provincial Grand Master of South Wales, Gareth Jones. RMBI Chief Executive David Innes and his wife Annemarie; Deputy President Chris Caine; and trustee Dr John Reuther and his wife Maggie also attended. The dinner raised more than £1,000 and the RMBI is grateful to all those who supported the event. Phil Dando and his band provided the entertainment for the evening.

Father Dowland Owen held a special church service the following day. Residents and many of the home’s supporters enjoyed a lunch followed by a performance by the Garw Valley Male Voice Choir, organised by the Association of Friends of Albert Edward Prince of Wales Court. 

The care home was purpose-built in 1973 and refurbished in 2000. 

Set in landscaped grounds, it caters for seventy-two residents, providing residential, nursing and dementia care. 

Flying high – the butterfly kite mark

In recognition of their excellent care for people with dementia, five RMBI homes have been awarded the Butterfly Service status kite mark

The RMBI is committed to making its dementia care service exceptional, and substantial investment in training for staff over the past three years is now benefitting the ever-increasing number of people with the condition who are living in RMBI care homes.

A number of the homes, including the dementia support units at Cornwallis Court in Suffolk, Prince Edward Duke of Kent Court in Essex, Devonshire Court in Leicester, Shannon Court in Hindhead and Albert Edward Prince of Wales Court in Mid Glamorgan, have received the acclaimed Butterfly Service status kite mark, which is nationally recognised and awarded by Dementia Care Matters.

Dementia Care Matters works with care providers to improve the quality of life for those residents living with dementia. They believe that care should focus on people, rather than policies, and this is tested through unannounced visits by trained impartial auditors. The audits are carried out using a qualitative observational tool, and homes that demonstrate exceptional dementia care achieve the Butterfly Service status. The goal is to make sure that all RMBI homes with a specialist dementia support unit work to obtain the award.

The RMBI continuously invest in their care homes to ensure that they meet government guidelines, legislation and the changing needs of older people. The RMBI also ensure that there is a consistent style in their Homes in order to create an environment for our residents.

Just over 18 months ago an Interior Design Manual was developed using the RMBI Corporate Identity guidelines as its foundation. This ensures that all RMBI Homes are refurbished to a consistent standard where the interior design is distinguishable and recognisable.

The Purpose of the Manual

The purpose of the Manual is to help provide an environment that suits all people living in RMBI Homes and to create an image that is welcoming and representative of the RMBI across all its Homes.

The Manual offers a series of options that the management staff at the RMBI can use to refurbish areas in the Homes, from furniture and curtain choices to wallpaper and flooring. This removes the temptation for a mix and match approach of personal tastes and helps to maintain a consistent style throughout.

As the RMBI's property portfolio ranges from listed and art deco buildings to purpose built care homes, the Manual was developed once a review was undertaken of all its properties. This was to ensure that colours and themes were selected that would enhance the buildings natural aesthetics and help to create more comfortable environments. This helps the RMBI management teams in choosing the right themes and colours to suit the building and most importantly the various types of care that is provided in different areas of the Homes.

A range of furniture and furnishings has also been selected on the basis of their high standard of quality, thus adding value to the Homes as well as ensuring that appropriate furniture is purchased to suit the varying needs of people living in our Homes.

Refurbishment at Homes

RMBI Homes have been going through major building and fire prevention works due to regulation changes. While this work has been in progress, the RMBI have taken the opportunity to carry out the refurbishments required at their care homes in line with the Manual, resulting in minimal disruption for the people living in the Homes.

Reception areas at care homes Cadogan Court in Exeter, Ecclesholme in Manchester, Lord Harris Court in Berkshire and Prince George Duke of Kent Court in Kent, have been upgraded to allow more space, natural light and seating areas and to form a more consistent image of a welcome area in RMBI Homes.

A previously unused section of Albert Edward Prince of Wales Court in Mid Glamorgan has been refurbished to provide 10 bedrooms with ensuite facilities in the form of wet rooms. In addition, the lounge, dining room and kitchen areas have also been refurbished, all in line with the Manual.

Prince George Duke of Kent Court in Kent, has also recently had its hairdressing suite upgraded and modernised to ensure that treatments are provided in pleasant and relaxing surroundings.

Queen Elizabeth Court in Llandudno, has had lounge areas and communal areas in the nursing wing refurbished in line with the Manual. This has given a new lease of life to the areas, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere that is suitable for the nursing care provided.

Connaught Court in York, is currently undergoing some major works to enhance the aesthetics of the Home as well as providing newly refurbished areas such as the new dementia zone area.

 James Terry Court opens its doors

Phase 1 of the rebuild of James Terry Court, Croydon opened this autumn. Phase 1 is furnished using the Manual to ensure consistency and a high standard of furnishings.

According to research from Dementia UK, two-thirds of people living in care homes have some form of dementia. Not all will need to live in specialist units to effectively meet their care needs. In fact, all our homes can offer places to people with dementia following an assessment of their needs. However, in some cases, care for the individual is best provided in a specialist dementia care unit.
     RMBI care home Albert Edward Prince of Wales Court, Mid Glamorgan, has recently opened a new Dementia Support Unit. The unit was created when ten unused rooms on the first floor were refurbished and modernised for residential use. Residents were then moved from the ground floor up to the newly refurbished rooms. The ten ground-floor rooms were then refurbished to create the dementia support unit.
     The unit is tastefully decorated with furnishings bringing colour and brightness into the rooms. Soft furnishings such as cushions and throws with different textures have been incorporated because the stimulation of the senses is particularly therapeutic for those who have dementia.
     The unit boasts two lounges: one includes music facilities and a television and the other is a relaxation lounge. Both lounges are set up to give a warm homely atmosphere. The kitchen area allows residents to see what food is available at meal times and they are able to choose what they would like to eat.
     The doors to each bedroom are designed to look like a person’s own front door, with a colour and a number that the resident chooses or relates to maybe from their own home. All the bedrooms also include en-suite wet rooms.
     The unit, though new, is fully occupied and the residents are very comfortable and happy in their new dwellings. The unit will now allow the home to provide specialist dementia care to the local masonic community and also to continue to provide care to those residents whose needs change to requiring specialist support while living at the home.