Pictured: staff at Wallace Crescent Children's Home beside their advent calendar
Young people and staff at Wallace Crescent Children’s Home in Brightons are getting in the Christmas mood as they start to open their giant-sized advent calendar.
Designed by member of staff John Swift and developed by children and young people over the years, the giant calendar is a big feature in the yearly run up to Christmas.
Presents are personalised by the staff for each of the children and young people so their excitement is raised as they try to guess what their gift could be.
Clues
Clues are solved as to the contents or the present before opening to add to the excitement as each person has a ‘turn’ and is rotated over the run up to Christmas.
The life-sized tree is decorated is decorated by everyone in the Home so that it can bring staff and young people together to share experiences – something really important in the care setting.
Team Manager, Pauline Connelly explained: “Staff at the Home make sure all the young people have their gifts wrapped and ready to go and each gift picked is unique to each young person.
“The young people’s involvement in the calendar is what makes it so special, knowing the young people painted a shoe on the snowman or added a snowflake in the sky means young people hold ownership of the calendar and protect it from the risk of anyone opening a box when it is not their turn yet!
“By creating a life size advent calendar, it gives an extra magical touch. This starts with the young people helping to decorate it with a different theme every year, bringing young people and the care team together for some dedicated time to do this. This leads to a closer relationship between the staff and the young people which is a positive outcome all round.”
Wallace Crescent provides short-term care for five children. Children who stay here may return to their families, and some children stay when a long-term placement has not been found for them.