Mrs Mac's brings the memories back
House Guests at Worthington Lake Care Home were spoilt with a surprise visit from a local confectionary business, Mrs Mac’s Sweet Occasions. Specialising in the traditional, they flooded the home with nostalgic sweets.
With a shop in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Founders Mark and Lynne, have recently started visiting care homes across the North West, bringing treats with tradition and old-fashioned favourites.
Although a lovely experience, the visit shouldn’t be seen as just a sweet shop rolling into town!
Taste can be a powerful trigger for reminiscence, and it has a close association with memories and emotions. Helping to promote memory recall, a flavour can be linked with an emotion or a period which can hold a huge significance in someone’s life.
Combined with other senses such as smell, texture and visual appeal it can create an immersive experience for everyone to enjoy!
“We had a lovely time at Worthington. We’ve been doing this for about 6 months now but initially, we opened a shop in Wigan in 2019.
“We had Carers that were coming in and buying sweets for residents and we used to get chatting. I used to be a Wine Merchant, and I was aware that tastes and smells evoke memories. With that, we thought there was an opening to help. We’ve got a little saying; Mrs Mac’s bring the memories back!
“Just seeing the residents’ faces, they were like little children the way they lit up and we definitely enjoyed the banter with them. It was a really warm environment which created a truly warming feeling.
“Residents can still reel them off and remember all the sweets, Uncle Joe’s, Pear Drops, it’s all about that experience.”
“It was like a taste of my childhood!”
“It was so nice to pick some of my grandchildren’s favourite sweets.”
The whole experience provided a sense of shared inclusion between staff and House Guests with all getting to enjoy the visit. Residents were given the time and opportunity regardless of their needs and their feedback was amazing.
For more information on Worthington Lake, please click here.
