The residents spent an evening dressing up as members of the charitable organisation, founded in the 19th century by Henry Croft. He was a street sweeper who collected money for charity, and sewed pearl buttons onto his suit to draw attention to himself and help with his fundraising.

Activity Co-ordinator Gill Crosswell said many of the guests had made their own costumes. "Many of us dressed for the occasion lovingly sewing buttons on to our costumes.  We even made stick on buttons which saved a lot of time and looked effective!"

After everyone had heard about the history of the Pearly Kings and Queens, staff members Maggie and Karen cooked a traditional London meal of pie and mash for the residents, and the night was finished with some musical entertainment.

Gill said that everyone had a very merry evening. "With plenty of alcohol, seafood and flag waving, the whole event was quite a night to remember!"

Picture: Residents enjoyed dressing up!

See more pictures on Flickr!

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For further information, please contact:

Lucy Henson, PR officer
0789 105 3062
lucy.henson@extracare.org.uk