A FAMILY-RUN care home has built a theatre for its residents, which is the latest addition to a growing range of amenities.

Burwood Nursing Home in Broadstone, which already provides an old-fashioned pub for its residents, wanted to improve its entertainment offering by building the theatre, which is modelled on a 1930s music hall.

Once completed, the theatre will even feature seats from Bournemouth’s Winter Gardens concert hall, which was demolished in 2006.

Paul Jessup, who runs the care home with his wife, Sarah, said: “One of our residents remembers the seats, having watched the Beatles perform at Winter Gardens.

“We have a big plot here in Broadstone so we decided we would do something quirky.

“We’ve already got a pub – the Railway Tavern. Everyone likes shows and musicals so we thought, ‘let’s put a theatre in here’.”

He continued: “My grandfather used to perform as a drummer with some big bands so we wanted to create something for him as well as he was big into theatre.”

Paul and Sarah took over the care home from Sarah’s parents in 1998 when they retired.

The original care home had 10 bedrooms, but Paul and Sarah built a new home with a much bigger capacity.

When asked what the residents thought of the new theatre, Paul said: “They love it. It brings them some nostalgia.

“We have a lot of schools which will come and visit and perform things for us, as well as some local amateur dramatic groups.

“We’ll also put on some old Chaplin films and have a pianist play live like they used to do during the silent films.”

He added: “Everybody says there is no care home in the county like us. People have a lot of fun here, and we enjoy what we do.”

Paul said they had space at the care home for one other facility, which they hope to develop in due course.

“It will either be a chapel, a toy shop, or a gym,” he said.