Activities at Austen House Care Home
Here at Austen House, we like to get to know those we support, and from the day of moving in, our activities team will spend time on an individual basis learning about interests, likes and dislikes, life history and favourite hobbies.
We provide a wide range of activities, from one-to-one time, manicures and board games, through to live entertainment, prize bingo and our ever-popular cheese & wine events. Our activities team will also tailor individual activities to ensure residents can have as much or as little involvement as they choose.
In the summer months, greater focus is given to outdoor activities, such as barbecues and garden parties. In conjunction with our Chef, themed events are planned throughout the year, bringing activities and food together.
In their pink polo shirts, our activities team are easily identifiable and embrace ideas and suggestions from residents and their relatives to ensure that the activities provided keep those we support engaged, stimulated and entertained.
Iuliana Buican
Hi my name is Iuliana, I was a history teacher for 12 years before I joined Barchester in 2017. I am passionate about my job and love working with people. I enjoy planning and delivering meaningful activities which make a difference to our residents lives.
Read our brochure 'Life-enriching activities' for more information about life in our care homes.
Read our brochure
Activities and Events Partnerships
As part of our bespoke life-enrichment programmes, we host a number of live virtual events in the home on a regular basis through a number of partnerships with places of interest and world class performance companies
Life at Austen House Care Home
International Flower Day!
Residents and staff at Austen House celebrated International Flower Day in style, a great way in mid-winter to bring joy and happiness into the home.
International Flower Day promotes the psychological boost that flowers can give to people. From growing and nurturing plants and flowers, to gifting flowers to show love and appreciation, and sometimes just the simple act of admiring their beauty – flowers have the power to make someone’s day.
Our residents took part in flower-based activities throughout the day including a flower arranging session, reminiscing about their gardens and favourite flowers and a flower quiz which everyone really enjoyed. Their collective knowledge about flowers gained from years of gardening experience was very impressive.
It was a lovely day enjoyed by all.
Elvis Presley’ Birthday Celebration!
Our home was transformed into Graceland to mark what would have been Elvis Presley’s 89th birthday on 8 January.
It is estimated that Elvis has sold over one billion records worldwide so to honour the undisputed King of Rock & Roll, the staff and residents enjoyed a fantastic day of music, fun and dancing.
Lots of our residents are big Elvis fans and love his music. We’ve had a fantastic day listening to all his hits, finding out about his early life and what influenced him and watching old Elvis movies, he was such an incredible talent. Also, we had a live music show with Gary as Elvis, and everyone enjoyed singing and showing their dance moves. It is amazing how many songs he recorded and we all surprised ourselves by how many we remembered.
Maurice, a resident said: “I loved Elvis growing up. Listening to all his old hits has brought back so many memories. We’ve all had a brilliant time reminiscing about our dance hall days!”
Santa visit!
Here at Austen House we had a fantastic Christmas Day, which involved themed movies, singing and dancing, family visits followed by a beautiful festive lunch with turkey, roast potatoes, pigs in blankets, puddings and cakes.
Also, in the morning our residents were treated to a surprise visit from Santa Claus, his elf and Mrs Claus.
The home was filled with festive cheer when Santa arrived blasting loud cries of “Ho, Ho, Ho”, he sat with residents and handed out their Christmas presents.
No matter how old you are Santa always puts a smile on people’s faces and it’s clear that everyone was excited and busy opening their presents!
Christmas Party!
Austen House got into the Christmas spirit by throwing a themed party for residents. Christmas party was in full swing with a live music show performed by Gary, fancy dress, Christmas Raffle and festive foods.
Residents, families and friends joined in with the singing, dancing and clapped along as Gary performed some beautiful Christmas songs. Also, everyone enjoyed a feast of festive foods prepared by the home’s chef, Ainsworth Brown.
It was a wonderful time had by all, our home was filled with laughter, joy, music and dance. A festive afternoon of great food, company and conversation.
Operations Manager, Joleen Leung said: “Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year and our fantastic residents love to get festive so we’ve pulled out all the stops. It is so lovely to see them all getting into the Christmas spirit, it’s definitely my favourite time of year.
Salvation Army Christmas Carols Concert!
Residents and staff at Austen House got into the Christmas spirit by inviting the community to come and join in with a carol concert to sing some festive Christmas favourites.
So, we had the pleasure of welcoming volunteers from the Salvation Army at Austen House to sing carols with the residents and heavenly voices rang out at our home. The residents thoroughly enjoyed singing along with them and were delighted having a glass of mulled wine and delicious mince pies afterwards!
For some of our residents it was a time for reunion seeing old friends again and chatting with them.
Thank you all for coming, we are so lucky to have such a fantastic community here!
Reading West Pathfinders Performance!
What a lovely Sunday afternoon we had here at Austen House with a drumming performance by the Reading West Pathfinders, coordinated by Cheryl and Donette.
Afterwards, residents and children were delighted to decorate a Christmas Tree, sing carols and sharing Christmas memories together. Also, we enjoyed some delicious mince pies, chocolates and refreshments.
We do our best to provide a wide range of activities and entertainment here at Austen House as part of the lifestyle enrichment programme for residents, and having children around it is one of our favourite!
Thank you Reading West Pathfinders for bringing so much joy to our residents.
We are all definitely feeling the festive spirit!
