A CARE home in South Somerset held a virtual afternoon of festivities - with 70 other care homes in England, Jersey and the Isle of Wight.

Barchester's West Abbey Care Centre in Yeovil, virtually joined with all the other care homes for a Big Barchester Quiz of the Year, as well as other festive activities.

General Manager, Caroline Carter said: “We’ve had a year like no other so we wanted to ensure the Christmas celebrations for our residents and staff were an extra special treat.

"‘Meeting up’ with the other homes virtually has given them all such a boost. We’ve all had so much fun letting our hair down, everyone really enjoyed the afternoon and it brought out all of our competitive spirit.”

Residents also enjoyed festive foods prepared by head chef Louis Buys and his team.

“The Christmas period is always a fantastic time of year for our residents and after the year we have all had, we wanted to supersize our festivities and come together for a good old-fashioned quiz, across all of our homes," said managing director Natasha Lazovic.

"It has been a great opportunity for us as residents, staff and management to come together to test our general knowledge, have some fun with 1000’s of residents and colleagues and with vaccinations now in full swing in our homes - raise a toast to a bright 2021.”

The residents enjoyed the afternoon - especially with the chance to join other homes and meet other people.

Pat, a resident at West Abbey Care Centre said: “It has been a lovely afternoon. It was wonderful to see everyone in all the other homes joining in.

"I really enjoyed being able to test my brain like this.

"I think it was a really wonderful idea.”