Dot, 87, gets back in kitchen at Shirebrook care home where she once worked and now lives

Dorothy Townsend, 87, once head cook at Richmond Care Home in Shirebrook, was delighted to return to the kitchen where she was once in charge.

Staff at the care home invited Dorothy (Dot) to join them in the kitchen, 12 years after she retired from her role at the home.

Richmond’s community manager, Natasha Westwood, said, “We knew that Dot was keen to visit her old kitchen. She didn’t want to ask so we thought we’d surprise her.”

Dot spent a morning with the current head cook at the home, Teresa Scott, and her daughter, Debbie Scott.

Remarkably, both Teresa and Debbie were shown the ropes by Dot when she trained them up at the time that they joined Richmond Care Home.

Teresa said: “I have such fond memories of working with Dot. She always gave 100% effort to her work and was fun to be around.”

Dot became a resident at Richmond Care Home in February 2019 – a natural choice for her after working as a cook at the home for 11 years.

And one thing that Dot enjoys about the care home today is the freshly prepared food – especially the sausage pie.

The kitchens at Richmond Care Home have a five-star hygiene rating, a scheme that wasn’t introduced by the Food Standards Agency until 2010, two years after Dot retired.

Dot raised a smile on her visit when she asked “where are the tea towels?” before Teresa explained that tea towels don’t meet with today’s hygiene standards.

The resident chefs enjoyed showing Dot the latest developments in the kitchen before she returned to main part of the home for the afternoon.

Natasha joked as the visit came to an end.

She said: “There’s definitely no such thing as too many cooks.”

Richmond Care Home is a privately-owned and family-run care home in Shirebrook, Mansfield, offering residential and dementia care for up to 40 people.

For more information, visit www.richmondcarehome.co.uk.