Emmaus Home recently purchased a battery-operated mower, the type that stops as soon as you take your hands off the handle, to mow an area of lawn in the Lourdes Wing courtyard, inaccessible to a ride-on mower.

Along with some other staff, Bonny Curry, who works in Lourdes House and loves mowing her own lawn (albeit on her ride on mower), volunteered to mow the courtyard lawn. It was thought that, on sunny days, residents might also enjoy sitting outside watching this activity.

For several residents the memory of mowing their own lawn was too strong, prompting them to ask if they could mow a strip of two.

Bonny says mowing is one of those automatic tasks, once learned never forgotten (like riding a bike) so these residents were delighted to have the chance to get involved with tidying up small patches of lawn.

“What a beautiful job they have done”, says Sharmain Peterson, Emmaus Home’s Residential Service Lead, “One resident even asked for a beer after they’d finished mowing the lawn – well deserved, I think!”.