Activities at Collingtree Park Care Home

We've had a chocoholic day in celebration of 200 Years of Cadbury!

Staff and residents were treated to an afternoon of nostalgia and delicious memories when they were joined by Cadbury archivist Sarah Foden and Brand Manager Connor Gould for a talk from the nation’s favourite chocolate brand.

Since the opening of its first shop in Birmingham in 1824, Cadbury has delighted the nation with its confectionary and drinking chocolate. It has been with us throughout every day and seasonal moments, even popping out of our 99 ice cream cones on the beach. It’s the brand behind our favourite selection boxes, as well as the Cadbury Dairy Milk we unwind with on the sofa. Tastes we’ve known for generations – these have long been a part of Britain’s rich cultural history and the lives of Brits across generations.

Sarah and Connor walked the Barchester residents through the story of the brand’s great success from the very first shop to how Cadbury is celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2024. They shared photos from down the years, examples of old packaging and ad campaigns from the Cadbury archive in Bournville. The carefully selected archive material tells the story of an iconic British brand, this year celebrating its 200th anniversary that has been part of people’s lives through generations, in moments big and small. The brand’s rich history evoked all kinds of nostalgic memories for the residents who all have their own Cadbury memories.

Connor Gould, Brand Manager at Cadbury, said: “It is so rewarding to take part in such a special event as this – we just loved entertaining all the residents this afternoon, especially when it got to the quiz – they all had their own special memories of the brand to share, which was so rewarding to hear. Thanks to everyone at Barchester who joined us. It was wonderful to be able to share our brand story with you all and to hear about what Cadbury means to you.”

Home Manager; Nikki Allen said: “What a wonderful afternoon we’ve all had, our residents have grown up eating Cadbury chocolate bars, so they were really interested to hear about how the company first came about and how it has evolved over the years.”

World Cocktail Day is a global celebration of cocktails, the date marks the publication of the first recorded definition of a cocktail on May 13 in 1806 as a ‘stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters’.

World Cocktail Day invites everyone to try something new, and perhaps a little exotic, this special occasion is celebrated by cocktail lovers worldwide. To mark the day at Collingtree Park the hospitality team made a variety of healthy cocktails for our residents and staff to try.

We enjoyed Pina Coladas, fruit punch and fresh fruit filled Smoothies all served with a Hawaiian vibe courtesy of some leis!

Resident Pam said to Activities Coordinator; Skye "I didn't think you were serious when you offered me a Pina Colada, you really do think of everything!”

General Manager; Nikki said: “We have all had so much fun today trying the variety of mock cocktails on offer. Our residents loved soaking up some early summer sun and sipping their favourite cocktail recipes.”

We're making the most of the sunshine. with garden games and good company this weekend. Jean's family visited with their new furry edition - Bobby - bringing lots of joy to our animal loving residents, who enjoyed playing with him in the garden too.

There are always refreshments and treats available in reception for visiting family and friends, please help yourselves.

Today our residents learnt all about Northamptonshire with a quiz by Lucia; entailing stories of cattle market and sheep street as well as the famous Alfie Ape, who Northampton youngsters will remember him from the children’s shoe department at Beatties in the Grosvenor Centre.

He spent many hours swinging away there until his retirement in 2007 when the shoe department closed. Mary said "It's great to be outside with everyone laughing and having fun".

Yesterday we wished Mavis a happy 99th birthday!

Mavis shared stories of her 21st birthday, when she worked as a secretary for a company who supported with the war efforts at the time. She said "We all worked hard and didn't really think about birthdays then, it's so nice to celebrate with everyone nowadays".

Mavis enjoyed a fabulous cake with almond flavouring (one of her favourites!) made especially by chef Tamara.

Happy birthday Mavis, not long to go until the King will be writing to you now!

What a fabulous day we had marking the 79th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day! 

The home was decorated in red, white and blue as residents and staff took to the gardens for an afternoon of musical entertainment courtesy of ‘Peter’ from Nice N Easy Activity Show Community Group, who arrived dressed in military attire and had us all up and dancing to songs from the 1940s.

Head chef Jennifer whipped up a delicious selection of freshly-baked sausage rolls and biscuits, cheese straws and cream scones with strawberries for the occasion. We had jugs of fruit punch and pots of tea to accompany the street party food.

Our home was full of memorabilia which allowed our residents to reminisce about their memories of VE Day, their personal roles within the forces, and family members who serviced our country during the war years.

Nikki, General Manager at Collingtree Park said: “Many of our residents can remember the end of the war and we all know what it meant for our country so we wanted to celebrate the date and listen to our residents’ memories of the war and the experiences they lived through.”

The residents at Collingtree Park remarked; “It was wonderful to reminisce and to celebrate with all the staff, visitors and residents here, we’ve all had such a lovely day of fun in the sun!”