Ipswich care home sets up residents' museum to mark VE Day

A care home in Suffolk has set up its own VE Day museum based on its residents' experiences during the Second World War.

Staff at Anchor, St Mary's Care Home curated the exhibition which includes photographs, posters and letters from residents during the Second World war.

They came up with the idea for the museum after their original plans to hold a street party had to be scrapped because of lockdown.

Rosemary Martin joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force during the war, at the age of 19.

She was a Filter Plotter, and it was her job to plot British bombers as they left the coast, and communicate their movements with France.

Annie Ellen “Nellie” Fisk, now 104- years old, worked at Buttons farm with her Uncle George during the war.

St Mary's will be marking VE Day with a host of activities for residents including wartime food, films, dances, and poetry readings.

Audio clips and commentary from the period will also be played as residents experience the museum, to help evoke memories and create a nostalgic atmosphere.

93-year old Beryl Burley was a teenager during the Second World War and worked in a Café with her younger sister Sylvia. Beryl continued working in the café after the war finished and met her husband there in 1946, when he came for a dance. They married in 1948 and named their first house ‘Cadena’ the name of the Café to honour their meeting place.