Activities at Westergate House Care Home
Our activities team are great at building the activities programme around the likes and interests of the people we care for. Ensuring that our social events offer fun and adventure is part of the ethos of our home; it’s important that those we support can enjoy an active and social lifestyle. Of course, there will always be those who prefer peace and quiet, and in these instances, a cup of tea and a chat are always welcomed.
Lee Austin
My name is Lee and I am the Head of Lifestyle here at Westergate House.
I support our residents daily to do the things they enjoy and it is extremely important to me that we are offering a premium and person centred service to each resident. I support our residents on a daily basis by providing meaningful and quality activities either in groups or on a 1:1 basis, to help encourage and build confidence while creating an enjoyable environment for everyone. Westergate House is the home of our residents, we as staff are working in it, so it is extremely important to me that we are respectful of that, while offering a premium and person centred service to each and every resident.
I am a trained actor and professional vocalist and not shy in making a fool of myself. If I do that every day to put a smile on our residents faces then I’m happy I have played my part, along with the rest of the amazing team, to brightening their day. If you hear someone singing along the corridor or see them dancing in the lounges, it will probably be me.
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 Westergate House Care Home
My Bones Are Woven
Resident, Professor Ann Sutton OBE at Westergate House has been a highly regarded artist for over 70 years. She has been at the forefront of cutting edge techniques and processes that have helped her create some incredible pieces of art that are displayed the world over.
My Bones Are Woven is a documentary film made about Anns life and work with a beautiful look into her studio and life in Arundel. Ann now lives at Westergate House but still works every day and takes regular trips back to her studio to work on new pieces.
Westergate House hosted a film afternoon this week, welcoming Jane Mote, the director of the documentary and Ann Sutton to a showing of the documentary and a Q&A after with other residents, family and friends.
It was a wonderful afternoon spent learning about Ann and hearing some incredible stories in the Q&A after. This was the last public showing of the film before it is released in America and Canada for education establishments and main stream performances.
Ann Sutton has only lived at Westergate House for around 8 months and is loved by staff and residents alike. Staff at the home were amazed and excited to hear new things about her life and see some of her work on display.
Ann has work currently displayed in the Tate Gallery and is in talks with the Victoria & Albert Museum to display some of her pieces there too.
Paul Middleton-Russell, General Manager at Westergate House said: “We want everyone we care for to know how important they are to us here at Westergate House. Life stories are an integral part of getting to know our residents. We are very fortunate to have Professor Ann stay with us here and call it her home. The documentary was incredibly interesting and was inspirational to find out so much more about her life and work within the art world.”
Westergate House plans to take Ann on a trip up to the Tate Gallery in the next few weeks so she can see her art on display. A day that will be memorable and very exciting for everyone involved.
Coffee Concert
What a fantastic morning we had here at Westergate House today. Our Coffee Concert was a great success with residents and family members from all 3 of our communities coming together in the house lounge for the concert.
Thank you to Everyone Matters Charity and The Hanover Band for getting in touch to arrange this concert as part of the Arundel Festival. Margaret, Richard and Rebecca performed beautifully and everyone enjoyed the amazing sounds and history of the instruments they were using.
Chef Connie’s Cakes were well received too. What a very enjoyable morning here at Westergate House.
Open day
What a fantastic and very successful Open Day we had on Saturday here at Westergate House. We linked it in with our Concert on the Lawn with wonderful buffet, prepared in house by our amazing kitchen team, and of course our entertainment with the fantastic Mitchell Armstrong, Cheryl Williams and Jon Scott. All of this set to the backdrop of our new marquee. Everyone had a great time and the feedback, not only from our residents but from visitors too, was amazing with many visitors already booked in for a second visit. Well done to the whole team and everyone who helped out on the day.
Garden Party preparation
All go at Westergate House this week. Our new marquee is being put up by our maintenance chaps, Roger & Steve ready for our open day and our garden concert on Saturday. Our charity walk is going well with over 140 miles covered so far and our V2 Radio Sussex quiz challenge is going great with us being only 1 point behind with 1 day to go. Fingers crossed for a full 10/10 tomorrow
Pallant House Gallery Art Lessons
It’s been another fun packed week here at Westergate. Pallant House Gallery, who visit monthly to run our art classes, where here and residents got to make some beautiful 3D postcards this month. We were treated to wonderful music from Mitchell Armstrong and Jo Allam and our residents have been doing an amazing job at our walking challenge with our distance covered so far at over 110 miles.
Donkey Sanctuary Hayling Island
Lovely trip out this afternoon to donate the straw bales from our party at the weekend to the Hayling Island Donkey Sanctuary.
At Westergate House we sponsor a donkey called Poppy at the sanctuary so thought it would be great to give them the straw for their bedding, especially with how the weather is at the moment
