Celebrating life at Barchester

Today we had the pleasure of welcoming PC Jo Barlow, Fraud Protect and Prevent Officer, and David Reed, Cyber Dependent Protect and Prevent Officer from Northamptonshire Police into our home to provided our residents and staff with invaluable advice and information on how to identify and deter scam artists and fraudsters.

We learnt how to identify ‘Cyber Crimes’ that try to access our personal information via emails, phone calls, text messages, social media and websites to ‘Scam Visits’ when individuals pretend to be official bodies over the phone such as your bank and even the police!

During their informative chat, PC Jo Barlow met with one of our residents who started her career as a serving police officer before having her daughter and moving onto become a teacher of mathematics. It was wonderful to hear her recall her role in the service and enormous pride in the fact that one of her grandsons has also join the force.

Many of our residents use mobile phones and iPads to stay connected to their family and friends, and to make online purchases. The Northamptonshire Police team provided us all with key ways to spot potential fraud and scams which are one click away from stealing our personal data. 

The team shared the following important numbers for us all to take a note of: 
- Suspected fraud can be reported to Action Fraud: 0300 123 2040
- If you think any of your bank details have been capture notify your bank immediately on 159
- Suspect text messages should be forwarded to 7726

We've asked the team to join us again. Please look out for the next event poster, we cannot recommend the session highly enough. Its FREE and invaluable advice that helps protect us all from online theft.

Community is everything to us here at Hazel Lodge , so it was an absolute pleasure to host a Thank lunch for some of the volunteers from Battle Poppy Appeal who work tirelessly throughout the year decorating the town and raising all important awareness and funds for our Veterans via Royal British Legion. 
In 2025 the team with help from the local community raised over £12,650 for the Poppy appeal which is absolutely fantasic ! Well done to everyone involved and Thank you from your no 1 fans.

We love being able to support our residents in their hobbies and even learning new ones . Our Knit and Natter group is a perfect opportunity to get together with other crafters and to share some "yarn" 😁over a cup of tea and a slice of cake . 
If you know someone who likes to knit or crochet and would like to meet other likeminded souls to natter to then we'd love to see you .

Our weekend bingo with Debbie was slightly elevated with the use of our new interactive tablet, we can't wait to use this for many of our activities going forward. 
Bingo was a huge success as always, residents enjoyed the lovely prizes on offer and of course the fantastic company. 

Mortain Place care home, Eastbourne, were happy to support the Rodmill, one of the The Greene Kings local public houses, after they reached out to the local community requesting empty plastic chocolate sweet and biscuit tubs to be saved and dropped into their pub, supporting their Tub2Pub initiative. The team at Mortain Place got behind this super idea and saved up a total of 157 plastic tubs and delivered them this week to the grateful team at the pub.

The Rodmill are urging customers and members of the local community to bring their clean, empty plastic confectionery and biscuit tubs to participating Greene King pubs from 1^st January until the 15^th February to be recycled.  

Many kerbside recycling collections will not accept these polypropylene tubs, so Tub2Pub is a recycling solution that stops them ending up in landfill. Since Tub2Pub launched, they have helped to divert over 470,000 tubs from landfill and, with the proceeds from recycling the tubs going to their national charity partner, Macmillan Cancer Support, they have raised over £34,000 to help fund vital support for people living with cancer.

Mortain Place care home worked closely with Eastbourne District General Hospital to collect and save as many plastic tubs as possible, to support Greene King’s aspirations for a successful collection for this incredibly worthwhile charity.

 

Residents and families enjoyed a unique and joy-filled Australia Day celebration as Newton House care home hosted an ‘I’m A Celebrity’ themed activity in celebration of Australia Day, bringing the excitement of the jungle to the heart of the community.

The event featured a series of Bushtucker-style trials, fun jungle inspired games, and interactive activities designed to encourage participation, laughter, and connection. Residents enthusiastically took part in the challenges enjoying the fun atmosphere together

The celebration created a vibrant and inclusive atmosphere, promoting wellbeing, social engagement, and shared experiences together.

Come and celebrate the social, economic and political development of women at International Women's Day. There will be refreshments and light bites available.

We were ecstatic to host our latest 'Toast & Roast' - a community event designed to celebrate Sundays with our local community - by hosting them for a complimentary Sunday lunch with all the trimmings, followed by live music. 

It was a full house and everyone stayed to enjoy a special live set from local talent, Jimmy, afterwards which even included a few Scottish songs in honour of Burns Night!  Jimmy was happy to take requests throughout his set and finished with the room's universal request for Frank Sinatra's "My Way".

A fabulous Sunday filled with food, friendship and Frank!