Tea room at Luton care home reopens in memory of its late chef

A tea room at a Luton care home has reopened with a new name in memory of its late chef.

In celebration of this year’s Care Home Open Week, charity Friends of the Elderly’s residential care home Little Bramingham Farm has reopened its beautiful tea room so that residents, their families and members of the public can relax and enjoy weekly tasty treats and beverages.

The tea room has been renamed to ‘Susie’s Tea Room’ in memory of the care home’s late chef manager, Sue Farkas. Sue passed away one year ago after working at Little Bramingham Farm for nearly 20 years.

Emma Lawrance, the registered manager at Little Bramingham Farm, said: “One of Susie’s good friends, Nicki Rowley, has agreed to run the tea room for us. Nicki is a wonderful baker and the owner and manager of Afternoon Teas 2 You, a company which delivers delicious afternoon teas directly to people in their own homes, or a private venue.

"Nicki was extremely keen to be involved with our tea room as she really wanted to give something back to the community to honour the memory of her friend.”

As well as comfy indoor seating, Susie’s Tea Room has outside seating in the garden and a covered seating area in the care home’s log cabin, which was originally installed during the Covid pandemic as Little Bramingham Farm’s shielded visiting area.

“Susie’s Tea Room will be serving a selection of delicious cakes and pastries, together with hot and cold drinks,” Emma continued. “We are now open every Tuesday from 10am to .30pm and everyone is welcome to come along, pop in, grab a bite and have a relaxing drink.

“As an added extra for Care Home Open Week, on Tuesday June 27, we will be hosting tours of Little Bramingham Farm. We’d like to invite everyone to come along for a visit to find out about the care home on their street, in their town and in their area.

“It is a good opportunity for us to show what we have to offer, our fantastic facilities and our inclusive and accessible activities and services - and also remind our neighbours that we are here if they need support.

“The tours on will be a lovely way for us to showcase and demonstrate that at the heart of everything we do here at Little Bramingham Farm is to provide an excellent home, with welcoming and warm spaces and engaging and inclusive activities – we are a place where our residents and future residents can, and do, live well in later life.”