Nursing home residents are recreating iconic album covers and it's amazing

The residents of North London's Sydmar Lodge Care Home are staying busy during the pandemic. In order to keep them entertained and occupied while they're quarantined from the rest of the world, the home's activities coordinator, Robert Speker, has been helping them recreate iconic album covers. And it's awesome.

Robert and residents have flawlessly recreated album covers from Adele's 21 to Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. with the seniors center stage in each one. And the project has gone completely viral.

Robert tweeted out a thread of all the album recreations they've done so far, and his thread has racked up hundreds of thousands of likes and retweets. People love the idea.

Since the photos have gained traction, many have requested other album ideas they'd like to see. Others think it would be cool to make a calendar of these recreated covers. In general, commenters find this whole project extremely charming and wonderful. 

Simply put, this is badass. The project has gained so much traction that Robert has started a GoFundMe to raise money for the care home's activities program. On the page, Robert writes that the home has been in lockdown for four months. 

"It's been my job and privilege to keep them entertained during the COVID crisis with no outside entertainers or family," he writes. "As this situation is ongoing it could be months before the situation changes for them and the need to keep them happy and entertained and full of spirit has never been more crucial."

The GoFundMe is almost halfway toward its goal of £2,000. Robert, who has worked at Sydmar Lodge for five years, told Jewish News he had no idea that this project would go viral and get the feedback it has

He said he was at work when TV and radio stations started calling him because they'd heard all about it. He said that he almost missed the birth of his third daughter on June 25 because he was shooting Hilda into the Blink 182 cover. "My wife is very, very understanding," he says.

In addition to this project, Robert is always thinking of new and exciting activities for Sydmar Lodge residents. "I have taken them to the Ritz for tea and I am thinking of ways to get them an outing to a casino," he says. 

"A few weeks ago I hosted a 100th birthday for a resident with her family on Zoom. It was wonderful but sad because she should have had the party she deserved."

Robert's main goal with the album project was to make his residents happy. All the attention and excitement around it is just icing on the cake.

"I did the project to make them happy and I think the models' families have enjoyed it, with even grandchildren posting about their grandparents," Robert said, "but the risks of COVID means they could be in lockdown for a long time and I want to make it a good time."