Barford Court residents celebrate a serpentine Lunar New Year

Above: Residents Ron and Sylvia proudly hold up the snake ornament they have been working on to celebrate Chinese New Year at Barford Court, in Hove.

In Chinese tradition, each year is represented by one of 12 zodiac animals: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. In 2025, the Lunar New Year, commonly known as Chinese New Year, which falls on Wednesday 29^th January, marks the Year of the Snake. To honour this celebration, residents at Barford Court, in the coastal town of Hove, rolled up their sleeves and started to create their own decorative snake.

Activities Coordinator Rachel says:

We wanted to do something special to celebrate this festivity. However, we are aware of the impact that party props can have on the environment. That’s why we decided that we would only use recycled cardboard to create our very own New Year snake.

Resident Sylvia insisted on designing and colouring the snake’s tail, whilst resident Ron masterfully coloured the animal’s scaly head. With a broad grin on his face, Ron says:

This is great! I love working on unusual projects like this, especially when you can show the results at the end.

Resident Ron painstakingly enlivens the snake’s head with colouring pencils.

The residents and the staff will then decide where to display the snake, along with some other traditional ornaments to celebrate the New Year. Home Manager Gavin Kingham adds:

How wonderful it is to see our residents being environmentally friendly whilst enjoying this activity and celebrating the Lunar New Year.

[Summary: Residents at RMBI Care Co. Home Barford Court, in Hove, celebrated the Year of the Snake by creating a decorative snake from recycled cardboard for the Lunar New Year. Led by staff, residents embraced the eco-friendly project with enthusiasm, contributing to its design and colouring while enjoying the festive spirit.]