Care homes across the South of England have paid tribute to their hard-working and dedicated nurses at a special annual celebration.

Twenty one homes owned and run by Colten Care, all registered for professional nursing care, marked Nurses’ Day with cakes, thank-you cards, poetry, and get-togethers.

Held internationally, Nurses’ Day is timed to coincide with the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the famous ‘Lady with the Lamp’ who nursed injured soldiers in the Crimean War. 

Born in 1820, she is often cited as the founder of modern nursing.

Among the Colten Care homes holding events in Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, and West Sussex was Abbey View in Sherborne.

Residents and team members there held a breakfast in a specially-decorated ‘Red Cross’ café.

It was an opportunity for former nurses Rose Cavanagh and Janet Matthews, who are now residents at Abbey View, to share stories and memories of their careers.

Cavanagh, who read out a nurses’ prayer and modelled a genuine nursing cape from years gone by, said: “I have very happy memories. I loved my work and loved the patients, but I can’t imagine what it must have been like to have been a nurse during the war.”

And Matthews shared with fellow guests some of her memories of St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, where she was a nurse for eight years. 

Abbey View’s companionship team leader, Bev de Bruyn, said: “As retired nurses, Rose and Janet loved sharing their stories and reminiscing with our current nursing colleagues.

“The day was a poignant reminder to us just what heroes we have working in our midst.”

As well as events, residents and team members at some Colten Care homes went out to honour nurses working in local doctors’ surgeries and other community health facilities.

A party from Woodpeckers in the New Forest village of Brockenhurst visited a nearby GP surgery and presented nurses there with ceramic star-shaped pots.

On each one there is a message that reads: ‘You are a star in our community, thank you from all of us at Woodpeckers.’

The pots also contained chocolates, toiletries, lip balm, and flavoured teas.

Also in the New Forest, three residents from Lymington dementia care home Linden House, including former nurse, Susan McPhee, made a surprise visit with their carers to the district nursing team at South Efford House NHS.

McPhee, and fellow residents Liz Jones and Jane Lavis, presented the nurses with bunches of flowers and a lemon drizzle cake specially baked by Linden House chefs.

Sian Harris, companionship team leader at Linden House, said: “Our residents were only too pleased to hand over the surprise gifts.

“All nurses do a fabulous job, both here at Linden House and elsewhere in the community, and this was our way to say thank-you for their wonderful work wherever they are.”