Bringing The Sunshine Indoors At Butterfly Lodge

Residents of a dementia care home in Plymouth are enjoying an early taste of spring with a specially created indoor garden that has been installed in a cosy corridor at Butterfly Lodge.

The idea was the brainwave of service manager, Abby Wiseman, who was inspired by: “the promise of spring.”

Abby Wiseman said: “At this time of year we’re obviously not able to take our ladies and gents out into the garden as often as we do when the weather is warmer, so this lovely project is a way to bring the outdoors inside where everyone can enjoy the flowers no matter what the weather.

“Because Butterfly Lodge is a purpose-built Swedish-designed home, our residents already enjoy a lot of natural light and the home has great views out over the Tamar Estuary, but this is ensures they still have a warm, natural-feeling environment to relax in when the February winds are blowing outside.”

A great deal of thought and dedication on the part of Butterfly Lodge’s staff team has been invested to bring the garden to life, including a mural that gives the impression of looking out over Plymouth Hoe.

Wooden garden chairs and a table nestle in an alcove, where one wall has been papered to resemble the brick wall of a house and fitted with an arched mirror designed to look like a window. Beneath the mirror a flowering window box continues the garden theme and artificial grass has been introduced to clad the lower half of the other walls.

Blue-painted MDF ‘ogee’ arches - echoing the exotic silhouettes of Moorish architecture - now frame the glass windows that look into the adjacent lounge, artificial ivy clambers around the pillars in the corridor, and hanging baskets and garlands of flowers bring added colour and texture. 

Abby Wiseman said: “The final touch was some colourful butterflies, which we had fun creating with our residents, and these now adorn the windows. The whole project has been enormous fun and is bringing a lot of pleasure to the vulnerable people we support.”

Butterfly Lodge, which is run by dementia care experts Camelot Care, is a specialist 38-bed facility, in the St Budeaux area of Plymouth.

Camelot Care also has homes in Bridgwater and Wellington in Somerset. For more information see www.camelotcare.co.uk