Celebrating life at Barchester

Our residents were thrilled to receive letters and rainbow pictures from the local Alcester community and school children; they certainly brightened the day! We want to send a big 'thank you' to everyone and ask you to keep them coming, we will put them all on display for every resident to enjoy. ‘Stay safe’ everyone; we miss you all.

We were thrilled to receive a certificate of support from Liverpool Football Club. Following an email to the club by one of our Nurses, who is a staunch supporter, the Club sent the certificate through. It is now proudly displayed throughout the Home for the residents and staff to see.

Residents and colleagues at Mulberry were delighted to answer the door to accept a special delivery from their local Morrison’s outlet, who were out delivering free fresh bread and bakery items to carers and key workers across the York area for everyone to enjoy and in recognition of the homes hard working, dedicated team supporting residents during this difficult period. 

The cheese scones were particularly tasty! The aroma of these tasty treats can be smelt throughout!

On behalf of Mulberry Court, residents and colleagues would like to pass on their gratitude for being considered at this time of uncertainty and hope everyone stays safe and well. Such a nice gesture thinking of us care homes and everyone joining forces to keep the community spirit together!

Residents are writing wonderful appreciation messages to the team and team members are writing messages of thanks and support to each other.

Our resident Peter thoroughly enjoys spending time at his desk making some fantastic model planes and he would like to share where his love of model making began:

"Years ago when my twin boys were little, I enjoyed helping them to make Plastic "Air Fix" models which they received as Christmas and Birthday presents. My wife and I decided to leave London and retire near our son in Norfolk but sadly after six months my wife passed away. To alleviate the loneliness and boredom my son convinced me to take up modelling again.

On my iPad I found 5-6 companies who make outstanding modelling kits. I chose to specialise in World War 1-2 Aircrafts. Their kits are 2-fold i.e.; one is free flight which contains a special Chinese rubber band and connected to a propeller 75-100 which in turn gives me 12-15 seconds of flight. The alternative is Radio Controlled which I feel I may be too old for!

To date, I have made two WW1 planes and one WW2 plane, both British and I have loved flying them in the garden. My latest project is a Messerscmih -109; a German Fighter plane and the pride of Hitler's air force!  This fighter plane was used to combat the air force "Spitfire" and became second best but sadly does not fly. As my birthday is coming up I have no doubt my family will see I have another plane which will be an American "Cessna" used in the Vietnam War.  My young grandson loves hanging these planes from his ceiling too.

My other company of models is those of the famous painter Leonardo Da Vinci who was not only a painter but was also Italy's most famous engineer who invented the Mathematical Clock which is proudly displayed in my room.

My door is always open should you wish to have a chat and see my creations".

Made plenty of noise for the amazing team looking after my Dad in Ashford House Care Centre, Stanwell. Thank you so much.

My Mum is in Longueville Court, her Carers and nurses are just the best. I know they will be looking after her for me, miss her though. Stay safe please all Carers, especially the whole Team at Longueville Court, Peterborough.

A massive thank you to the staff at Lucerne House Exeter. I am 57 today and they talked me though  loading skype and I have been able to see mum for the 1st time in 3 weeks, stay safe xx

We were so happy to receive cards and messages of kindness from Clermiston Primary School which were handed in by their teacher, Claire Harvey.

During the current climate and this difficult time it is even more of a priority for our team to keep our resident’s spirits high. The acts of kindness that we have received from our surrounding community have been an overwhelming support and we are so thankful to Clermiston Primary School for creating these wonderful cards, they have brought huge smiles to the faces of our residents and really helped us keep a cheerful and loving atmosphere within our home. We look forward to opening again to our community so we can say our thank yous in person

We were delighted when we had a surprise visit from Tesco, who kindly donated bouquets of flowers for our residents. They certainly lifted everyone’s spirit and we enjoyed a lovely day decorating residents' rooms, the communal areas and enjoyed an afternoon activity of making table displays. We would like to thank Tesco for their very kind-hearted gesture.

To combat loneliness and isolation colleagues at Lochduhar reached out to the community as part of their extended social network to seek pen-pals of all ages reaching out to nurseries, schools and members of the community to remain connected during the current coronavirus crisis.

Residents were delighted to receive colourful pictures delivered to the home from members of  local primary school  who have visited the home regularly until the current restrictions were put in place.

Thank you for adding a little colour and sunshine to our residents day and for your heartfelt message.  One resident said “It was very touching to receive such nice letters from the children”, whilst another said “The pictures are lovely, bless them all”.

It is amazing how a simple letter, short story, poem or even a photo or drawing can brighten someone’s day. The residents of Lochduhar will then reply as part of our busy social activity sessions.

We are happy to receive things via post which can be sent to directly to the home or you can email us directly to lochduhar.activities@barchester.com.                                                                                                                                                                                  

Residents received some cards, pictures and postcards from kind members of our local community to help keep everyone's spirits up during this current crisis. 

A big thank you to our staff doing a quick whip around for our local food bank at times like these it is essential communities come together and we help one another where we can. Wansbeck Valley Food Bank were very grateful and are delivering to those in need.

It was also pointed out that Ashington donate the most food to the service for surrounding areas, isn’t that wonderful!

Today we celebrated Mother’s Day at Ashlar house. Due to Government advice regarding COVID-19 we are limiting our residents exposure to the virus which has unfortunately meant no loved ones visiting their mothers today. We have ensured that all loved ones were at least able to see their mothers today via FaceTime or other video conference service.

It was so heart-warming being able to share these moments between mother and son, daughter and grandchild. We also shared Mother’s Day Cards and pictures among our residents. Today could have been memorable for all the wrong reasons however even in the face of such a global crisis connecting our Mums with their families was spent focusing on love as it should be!

To combat loneliness and isolation, residents of Lindum House joined the initiative, 'Postcards of Kindness', and are delighted when the postman delivers their mail. During the current coronavirus crisis, residents extended their social network to seek pen-pals of all ages reaching out to the nurseries, schools and members of the local community to remain connected.

Thank you Amie, aged 9, Eva, aged 4, brothers Blake and Rowan, aged 6 and 2, for adding a little colour and sunshine to our residents' day!

It is amazing how a simple letter, short story, poem or even a photo or drawing can brighten someone’s day. The residents of Lindum House will then reply as part of our busy social activity sessions.

We are happy to receive things via post, which can be sent to directly to the home, or you can email us directly to lindumhouse.activities@barchester.com.                                                                                                                                                                                 

Many thanks to the great team at Caldy Manor for keeping my Mum Rose safe & well along with all the other residents. Hope all the staff stay safe.

As we celebrated Mother’s Day at The Cedars, daffodils were seen everywhere and residents enjoyed FaceTime, Skype and telephone calls from their children. We had a good ol' singalong to lift everyone’s spirits during the day, and there as plenty of chatting about the old times when the children were young. The team and residents shared stories and made it a day to remember!

Wilma received lovely messages and pictures today from her Grandchildren sending love and saying thank you for all she is doing in her caring role.