Residents at Little Bramingham Farm in Luton agree, a cup of tea is like a hug in a mug

Residents at Friends of the Elderly’s award-winning Luton residential care home, celebrate this rear’s Afternoon Tea Week and National Prosecco Day.

At Little Bramingham Farm, the award-winning Luton-based residential care home run by charity, Friends of the Elderly, the residents have had a ‘tea-riffic’ time celebrating this year’s Afternoon Tea Week and also said ‘Sip, Sip Hooray’ to each other to mark National Prosecco Day.

“The residents always thoroughly enjoy getting together for a delicious afternoon tea,” said Emma Lawrance, the Registered Manager at Little Bramingham Farm. “So, we thought it would be a ‘positivi-tea-vely’ wonderful idea to host a special summertime afternoon tea for them to celebrate this year’s Afternoon Tea Week. As luck would have it, National Prosecco Day fell on the same day as our afternoon tea event, so the residents also enjoyed a glass or two of fizz, which definitely suits their bubbly personalities.”

“The afternoon tea party was a ‘quali-tea affair,” added Karen Charity, the Activities Coordinator at the care home. “As the weather has been so beautiful, we arranged for the afternoon tea to be served on our front lawn. The pretty tables looked lovely set with our vintage tea services and tea pots.

“Our Chef, Jim Wright, served up an outstanding afternoon tea, which included a selection of tasty sandwiches with delicious fillings of salmon and cream cheese, cheese and pickle and ham and mustard; alongside mini quiches, pork pies, an array of scrumptious cakes as well as the ‘Afternoon Tea Must’, fruit and plain scones with clotted cream and jam - and obviously not forgetting sparking glasses of Prosecco and lots of tea too.”                                                                                 

“To get the party started, we held our very own Little Bramingham Farm Tea Poll,” added Emma. “We asked the residents a few questions, which they all got involved with answering and discussing each other’s answers. It also became a wonderful reminiscing conversation as the residents spoke about their family tea traditions and where they’d enjoyed delicious afternoon teas before.”

“The Tea Poll results were very interesting, as there was only one thing all the residents agreed on,” continued Karen. “It was a unanimous decision that when eating a scone, the jam must go first, followed by the cream. However, it was a split decision as to what type of jam. The residents were torn between the classic Strawberry jam, Raspberry and Blackcurrant flavours. It was also a 50 / 50 divide on whether the milk or tea should go into the cup first and also if the best cup of tea is made with tea bags or loose-leaf tea – but the residents undisputedly agreed that any afternoon tea is wonderful, if it’s enjoyed with your friends.”

“Margaret Thompson, who made Little Bramingham Farm her home in October 2024, shared a ‘tea-riffic’ bit of tea trivia,” said Emma. “Margaret told us all that tea bags were actually created by accident as, back in 1908, a chap called Thomas Sullivan sent loose tea samples to his customers in silk pouches. It appears that some of his clientele mistakenly dipped the pouches straight into hot water and hey presto, tea bags were invented.”

“It was also lovely to hear the residents’ talk about their tea memories,” continued Karen. “Maureen Cain who moved to the care home in March 2025 said that her mother used to do a ‘proper’ afternoon tea every Sunday and Patricia Jacobs, who has been a member of the Little Bramingham Farm family since August 2026, said she had lovely, fond memories of sharing afternoon teas with her mother when she visited her at her care home. Maureen also said that she has wonderful memories of her sister serving afternoon tea on special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries too.”

“The residents had a wonderful time celebrating Afternoon Tea Week and National Prosecco Day. It was a lovely afternoon which inspired positive reflections and fun, enjoyable conversations. As the saying goes, ‘Happiness is a cup of tea with good friends,’ and there was certainly lots of happiness at our Afternoon Tea Party. All the residents said how nice it was to be outside in the sunshine, enjoying the afternoon together, it was ‘brew-tea-ful’,” concluded Emma.