Zombies, ghouls and scary spooks danced through the campus of a specialist Shropshire college for some frighteningly fun ghostly goings-on for Halloween.
Students and staff from Derwen College, near Oswestry, were invited to dress up in Halloween outfits to perform Michael Jackson’s Thriller for the national Dance for Dignity campaign.
The event, which will be edited into a film, involved screams of laughter more than fear but had an underlying serious message to highlight dignity in care.
The students and staff performed the moves to Thriller down a path lit up with Halloween pumpkins that students had made during the week.
Other fun Halloween activities included prizes for the best pumpkin carving created in Independent Living Skills classes. The college also ran a special Halloween pumpkin soup offer for visitors to its Garden Café, and organised a Halloween charity quiz to raise funds towards the college’s new hydrotherapy pool.
Helen Owen, Independence, Health & Wellbeing Manager, said that everyone had enjoyed working together to create the shocking showpiece.
She said: “This year’s Dance for Dignity is a whole college event where everyone had the opportunity to get up having a great time to highlight dignity.”
A spokesperson for Dignity in Care said: “Most of us at some point in our lives will be in contact with care services, be that in our work, as a service user, carer, relative or friend and when we do we hope we will be treated with dignity and respect. More than 88,000 Champions from all walks of life have joined forces to provide a more dignified service for everyone.
“The Dignity in care Campaign, which launched in November 2006, aims to stimulate a national debate around dignity in care and create a care system where there is zero tolerance of abuse and disrespect of adults.”
Derwen College, in Gobowen, is a specialist college for young adults with learning difficulties and disabilities. The college offers students the opportunity to learn new skills in real work environments and to learn life skills which will enable them to live as independently as possible. The college has received three consecutive ‘outstanding’ Ofsted gradings.
For more information on Derwen College go to www.derwen.ac.uk or telephone 01691 661234. To see the full video click here.