The Sydenham community celebrated Black History Month with an African-Caribbean feast and reggae music on Wednesday (October 22).

Staff and residents at the Pear Tree Care Centre on Sydenham Road decorated their nursing home with flags from different nations and dressed up in bright African clothing.

An ambassador for Jamaican heroine Mary Seacole, who nursed sick and wounded British troops in the Crimean War, also hosted a talk with residents.

The care centre’s activity co-ordinator Marva Wilson organises the Black History Month celebration every year as well as parties for St George’s Day in April and St Patrick’s Day in March.

She said: “We want our residents to be part of everything that is going on here because this is their home. We have got a real multicultural mix of residents here and we just want to make them happy.

“In honour of this year’s theme, which celebrates the men and women who have made a positive contribution to black history, staff have covered the walls with photos of prominent black people.”