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
A beautiful Afternoon spent at Brick Kiln Nurseries
The blustery weather did not deter our residents from taking a trip out in the minibus to a local garden centre, Brick Kiln Nurseries, today. With the beautiful festive decorations, a country-kitchen cafe and plants and shrubs galore, there was plenty for everyone to see and explore. After browsing and enjoying the lights, we all popped into the cafe, where we received a warm welcome from the staff, and homemade cake with a lovely cup of tea.
Bewitching Halloween Fun at Westergate House
Residents and staff were soon in to the spirit of things by decorating the home with seasonal decorations and munching on sweets and treats. Preparations were made on the Memory lane community, where pumpkins replaced vases for autumnal flower-arranging, amongst the Halloween backdrop of webs and spiders. There was fun to be had wearing witches hats and taking part in arts and crafts and spooky party games.
Wear it pink day!
Staff and residents celebrated 'Wear it Pink Day' at Westergate House care home, Fontwell, on Friday, to raise funds for Breast Cancer Awareness. A chance for everyone to dress up in their favourite colour! The Activities Team were delighted to display their creative skills with pink decorations, a pink tea party and pink flower arrangements made with the residents to mark the occasion. There was fizzy rose and pink lemonade to drink, and wonderful cakes prepared by Head Chef Chris and his team. It was such a lovely way to raise awareness and funds for a cause that is close to everyone's heart.
General Manager, Paul Middleton-Russell, commented "We've had a super day. It was wonderful to join in the fun and raise awareness for such a worthy cause."
Celebration of Autumn
Westergate House care home in Fontwell welcomed family and friends on Saturday for an Open Day, where ‘Stepping into Autumn’ was the theme. Residents and staff decorated the home and everyone took part in a seasonal celebration. Chef Chris and his wonderful team created a traditional menu with a fish and chip lunch, served authentically in newspaper and takeaway box, and a delightful lemon meringue for dessert. All three communities had entertainment; Geoff Valenti played accordion in the House, Mitchell Armstrong played guitar with vocals in the Memory lane community, and Leo May engaged residents living with dementia with music and songs from all the decades.
Paul Middleton-Russell, General Manager at Westergate House, commented: “We have had a fabulous day; it is always fantastic to welcome friends and relatives here at the home, to take part in celebrations with our residents and staff.”
Pallant House Art Gallery Workshop
Residents at Westergate House were delighted to take part in a fabulous art workshop with Emily Robson, Public Programme Manager at Pallant House Art gallery. Emily visited the home and introduced the theme of Surrealism, profiling the work of artist Eileen Agar. Our residents were asked how Eileen's art made them feel and their thoughts on her choice of colours. Everyone then engaged in an activity creating compositions using pre-cut acetate shapes and collage materials to create individual Surrealist pieces.
Emily, and her colleague Lucy, from Pallant House Art Gallery are visiting Westergate House to deliver workshops on a monthly basis, and will be exploring the work of different artists and eras with our residents. We are looking forward to next time!
Not 1 but 2 Divisional winners
Westergate House are so proud to announce that we have not one but two Divisional Winner’s in this year’s Barchester Care Awards. A testament to the high staffing standards here at Westergate House
Laura Guidici has been crowned Community Engagement Champion for the South Division and Annie Kellett is his years Volunteer of the Year in the 2022 Barchester Care Awards and is through to the national round of judging tomorrow.
More than 2,950 nominations were received from all Barchester homes and hospitals across the UK. All entries were a very high standard and Laura and Annie are both over the moon to have been named the winner for the division, beating hundreds of other nominees.
Our divisional winner’s Laura and Annie are through to the national finals in which the overall winner is decided. r.
