A CARE home in Stratton opened a coffee shop for its residents on Tuesday.

Church View Care Home celebrated the opening with Deputy Mayor of Swindon Junab Ali, care home staff, directors, agency workers, and residents.

Tasty cakes and hot drinks were on sale in the new space where the home's 35 residents can relax and have a chat.

Deputy manager Joanna Thomas was delighted by the residents' response to the newest addition to the care home.

She said: "There's a big buzz around the home which is really nice

"Resident satisfaction is our priority and they're all really happy.

"We thought it would be nice to have somewhere for them to gather and socialise, so we had a meeting with all our residents and their families about what they would like to have at the home.

"Our maintenance man Vince Povey is the mastermind behind it, he brought it all to life and it was put together over a month.

"One of our residents, double-amputee Eric Watkins, has taken charge of the coffee shop, he runs it on a daily basis with our help."

Further changes are in store for the care home as plans for a new upstairs cinema and diner were given the go-ahead after the success of the coffee shop.

Joanna added: "It's an exciting time at the moment.

"We'll have old movie nights, the diner will be more sports-themed, and we're refurbishing the salon, hopefully it'll all be done by Christmas."