Residents within our Memory Lane Community had been ensuring the plants within the balcony have been tended to and watered regularly in this heatwave! Alongside staff and our Gardener, the balcony looks lovely with pots of colour to brighten up the area and make everyone smile. Residents have really enjoyed having tea and cake in the afternoon sat in the shade listening to classical music, or at the request of some residents, Elvis Presley! Care Staff have also been using our Sensory Trolley with fibre-optic lights and sensory toys, and ensuring our ladies on Kingswood Community have had pamper afternoons with manicures and hand massages.

Residents all enjoyed celebrating World Chocolate Day! This event is always a favourite, and any excuse to partake in a food based activity! Our Activities Assistant expertly set up the chocolate fountain for all to enjoy with strawberries, bananas and marshmallows! Our Chef then turned any leftover bars into a Rocky Road for all to enjoy! Residents had a lovely afternoon, which was then followed by watching the live Wimbledon match.

Congratulations to Carlos Alcaraz on his Wimbledon Win! We have enjoyed two weeks of Wimbledon filled afternoons, and this weekend our residents enjoyed traditional strawberries and cream, Pimms and Cider served by our Activities Team, who have learnt a lot about tennis this fortnight! On to the next televised event, "The Proms" which we will be showing on selected days all the way through to September!

Today we had the pleasure of a visit from The Mayor and Mayoress of the City of Colchester. The Mayor of Colchester is Councillor John Jowers and his wife Mrs Susan Jowers.

Both the Mayor and Mayoress spoke to Nikki and Lindsay from The Tom Bowdidge Youth Cancer Foundation who outlined all the fundraising they do within the foundation, in honour of Nikki's late son, Tom, who we have a community named after, so this is a charity very close to our hearts.

The Mayor and Mayoress then visited all communities, chatting to our Resident Ambassador, staff, and residents about life in Woodland View and within Colchester, and spending time listening to residents memories. We would like to give a heartfelt Thankyou from all the residents and staff here for their visit, it was very special.

We then got on to CAKE! We held our "Tea for Tom" fundraising event with a bake sale while being treated to music from Jane and Julie, who are regular favourites here at our home, the amount raised is yet to be counted, but Nikki and Lindsay have said any amount is crucial in funding ongoing research and support.

Our residents were lucky enough to be invited by Anthony Roberts, Director of Colchester Arts Centre, to their Friday Afternoon Club, a new event being held monthly which we were very grateful for,

The afternoon consisted of local acts, including an Elvis impersonator, vocalist, prize bingo, and plenty of tea and cake! Residents really enjoyed the afternoon, with comments of “This really lifted my mood, thank you” and “How lovely, I’ve really enjoyed myself”

Colchester Arts Centre is located in an old church, with an interesting history. The church was built next to the Roman wall after the Boudica revolt destroyed much of Roman Colchester. It is now a unique venue hosting events from Jazz music, comedy shows, festivals and farmers markets, and so much more!

Now the weather is getting warmer, our residents have been getting outside within the garden, and our local community.

The benefits of outdoor activities include natural Vitamin D intake, increase mobility, boost immune system, reduce stress, allows a better quality of sleep, and improves the general mood of our residents.

Residents have enjoyed visiting our local Highwood’s Country Park, and having conversations with people from our local community. We have also visited Highwood’s Visitors Centre, and enjoyed ice-cream and a cold drink, to “Beat the Heat”