Shearing time, chapel, the young farmers club, Sunday school trips and the adventure of picking gooseberries to make jams and tarts of all kinds - these are just some of the wonderful memories 81-year-old Edith Lilian Mary Evans has related for a project she has been working on.

One of 11 children, Edith, know as Lilian, has produced a 129-page summary of her life to mark Mother’s Day. She was helped by staff members at Min y Môr residential home in Aberaeron, where she now lives. Menna Evans, adult social care support worker, worked closely with her.

Menna Evans said: “This work celebrates some of Lilian’s most important memories. It was a pleasure to work on this and help her revisit some of her most treasured memories.”

The project was a chance for her to recall some of the rural traditions of her childhood on Waenhall farm near Llidiartywaen, Llanidloes.

After marrying, Lilian worked as a school yard supervisor at Ysgol Syr John Rhys Ponterwyd in the 1980s, and then as a carer at Tregerddan care home in Bow Street.

Lilian said: “I have enjoyed creating the Memory Book of my life. I have enjoyed proofreading and editing the book with Menna, and I am grateful for the opportunity to work on a computer, research places of interest, and send emails to Maureen and Maud [her daughter and sister]. It has been a challenge to identify and name people in the photographs. We have had a lot of fun remembering our old memories.”

The project asked questions, such as ‘What are you proud of in your life?’; ‘What advice would you give your younger self?; ‘What is your earliest memory?’, and more, to create conversation and stimulate the memory.

Lilian’s daughter Maureen Pritchard said: “This book is an absolute treasure on Mother’s Day. I am extremely grateful to the staff at Min y Môr for their special care of Mum and for going the extra mile and carrying out worthwhile projects like these. Mum came here in 2019 and has received great care since then. I am very proud of her and of the special stories we have recalled while completing this project.”

Min y Môr is one of Ceredigion County Council’s care homes, and is part of the Through Age Wellbeing Programme (TAW).

Cllr Alun Williams, Cabinet Member for Through Age Wellbeing, said: “This is a lovely story which demonstrates the brilliant work our care home staff do to enhance the lives of the residents they look after.”

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