Residents from The Rectory care home in Taunton have been having a great time in the run up to Christmas with some ‘rediscovered’ games and a proper old-fashioned ‘knees-up’ in their local church hall.

All the residents and many friends and family members joined staff for an afternoon’s celebration at nearby Holy Trinity church hall, with live music from Rod Thomas who, earlier in his career, played as a backing musician with groups such as Status Quo, The Moody Blues and Manfred Mann.

Sophie Norman, deputy manager for The Rectory, said: “It is absolutely lovely to see our residents enjoying themselves so much.

“There’s nothing like a proper party, especially at Christmas, and we made sure all our residents’ favourite traditions were observed – music, dancing, mince pies, pigs in blankets and mulled wine, to name but a few.

“We’ve been getting into the swing of things all month, with lots of games such as Pass The Parcel (which they helped to wrap), candy cane fishing games and snowball ping-pong.

“Some of them have also enjoyed a Christmas tipple at our local pub.

“And on Boxing Day, we’ll be having a wonderful carol concert at The Rectory, featuring a special guest appearance by Lianne Vessier who’ll be treating us to a programme of popular songs, including some musical theatre and jazzy numbers, so we’re all looking forward to that.”

The Rectory is run by specialist dementia care providers White Care Group, who also run St Benedict’s Nursing Home in Glastonbury and St Cecilia Care Home in Shepton Mallet.