Celebrating life at Barchester

Our residents have been out in force keeping our garden blooming and colourful. They have been watering all the pots as well as weeding and keeping everything tidy.

We have been taking out and spring bedding plants and replacing them with summer plants. Our garden is a lovely space that everyone uses and we welcome families to join us.

Our residents were very excited to celebrate this day.

We had a chocolate fountain with marsh mallows, a cocktail fountain and so much chocolate to choose from. We added in a fruit platter to add some nutrition into the mix.

We had a resident meeting where our residents made a list of all their favourite chocolate for us to display on our sweet trolley and its fair to say it went down a treat! 

Yet another fantastic river trip and again we had amazing weather...perfect.

We packed a Picnic with Sandwiches, homemade sausage rolls, Scotch Eggs, cocktail sausages and some Cupcakes to finish.

The picnic was ready, boat ready, residents ready. Let’s go go go!!! 

We enjoyed a lovely morning celebrating World Chocolate Day with the amazing kiddies from Cecil Gowing Infant School. They were so well-behaved and polite and loved making their creations. Melted chocolate, all swirled with a stick, then decorated with whatever they wanted too. The whole home smelt of melted chocolate, and it was so tempting to lick the swirling stick....one little boy started the trend then they all wanted to lick the stick. 

Thank you, Cecil Gowing school for coming to share the day with us.  Intergenerational activities are so very important to keep our residents young at heart. 

Morning worship with a twist...the twist being a gorgeous 3-month-old puppy called Humphrey!!! He was quite a distraction, and he made our residents laugh after ripping up and eating the order of service.  

The Vicar then took him to see a couple of residents in their room, which was so wonderful, and they really appreciated his visit, spiritually and therapeutically.

We celebrated the Bedewell way with a party. We were joined by residents' families and their children.

We had our very own ice cream parlour with a range of flavoured ice cream including strawberries and cream, vanilla, mint choc chip, triple chocolate, lemon meringue, toffee and Neapolitan. 

Our residents enjoyed decorating their ice creams with strawberries, toffee and strawberry sauce and chocolate wafers and flakes.

We enjoyed a sing-along and a range of cocktails.

It was a day to remember as residents of Highview House held their first ever garden party. Residents were joined for the day by an array of guests, as the home opened its doors for a day of celebration of community and inclusion.

With delicious home-baked goodies, a tombola stall full of awesome prizes, garden activities, special guests and Carole-Anne's very own craft stand, there were plenty of things to do for all the home, family and friends, old and new! By the time the heavens opened at 2.30, funds had been raised for the Residents' Fund and the day was rounded off with a performance of traditional music. 

Our thanks go to all the family, friends and staff who assisted the activities team on the day, Northern Constabulary Community Pipe Band, NorCon PipeBand, for the musical entertainment, The Fish and Chip Van for providing the fantastic food truck, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service for being such good sports and fielding questions from potential recruits both young and old and Margaret Thompson and her band for rounding off the day in style.

In a resident meeting Carroll had said how she would like a choir at Juniper House. So, we have fulfilled this wish and have also name the choir as Carroll’s choir.

What makes this even more special is that Carroll loves to play the piano so once a month we all met by the piano. Carroll will bring her song book and play some notes on the piano for us all to sing along too.

The blend of Carroll playing the piano, the voices of other resident’s and the setting creates a wonderful soulful atmosphere that feels uniquely ours, testament to Carroll’s musical spirit and our collective love for songs.     

Residents enjoyed live entertainment in celebration of Father’s Day on June 15. Residents were able to enjoy meeting up with loved ones  and were entertained by Bob Oakley, who sang a mixture of 50’s 60’s and country songs.

Violeta Baesu, General Manager, said: “We all had a wonderful day welcoming friends and family into the home. Occasions like Father’s Day are so important, it was fantastic to have such a lovely gathering with our residents and their loved ones all together enjoying the live entertainment.”

Bob Oakley said “It is always a pleasure to come to your lovely home and entertain the residents.”

John, resident at Overslade House, said: “I’ve had a great time celebrating with my family, it has been so lovely to see them and spend some quality time together.  Father’s Day is such a special day. I’m so pleased we were all able to celebrate together.”