Our home was filled with laughter, excitement and plenty of Halloween magic as residents, families, children, staff and even our four-legged friends came together for a fantastic afternoon of fun! From witches and ghosts to pumpkins and little monsters, everyone embraced the Halloween spirit with some wonderful costumes. The children were busy collecting sweet treats and enjoying delicious cake, while our furry visitors stole plenty of hearts and attention along the way! Our residents thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the colourful costumes, spending time with loved ones and joining in the excitement. It was lovely to see so many smiles, hear so much laughter and watch different generations come together to make special memories.

A huge thank you to our wonderful staff, who helped bring the celebrations to life and joined in with all the spooky fun. Their enthusiasm, along with the fantastic support of our families and visitors, made the occasion extra special. There were wagging tails, happy faces, plenty of sweet treats and just the right amount of organised chaos! Even the camera struggled to keep up with all the excitement!    

Days like these remind us that our home is so much more than a place to live. It’s a place where friendships grow, families come together, and wonderful memories are made. Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make our Halloween celebrations such a memorable occasion. Happy Halloween from our big, happy family to yours! 

Our residents have been enjoying a variety of activities, from sensory play and caring for our empathy dolls to creative sessions, gentle exercises and moments of music and laughter.        

Every activity brings opportunities for connection, comfort and smiles. It’s the little moments that make a big difference! 

Shelburne Lodge actively celebrated Silver Sunday, a national UK event held annually on the first Sunday of October to honour older adults and combat loneliness.

Silver Sunday fell on Sunday 4th October 2026 and our home hosted a dedicated event for anyone over 60 in the community,
We had a Community Sunday Lunch & opened our doors to local seniors for music, socialising, and shared lunch that afternoon. We would like to thank Radfield Home Care, who provide award-winning private home care for bringing their lovely clients to lunch and sharing some very special experiences.

We had an amazing 17 guests at silver Sunday lunch and still managed to provide lunch on time for our 50 residents! Thank you to all the staff from Radfield care and Shelburne Lodge, especially our chef, Paula, and catering staff, who did an amazing 3 course service!   

Our home enjoyed celebrating the success of our now acting general manager, Lynnette Sellers, who was nominated earlier in the year for deputy manager of the year!

Lynnette attended the Barchester care awards and had a wonderful day, whilst we all helped to celebrate in the home on a live feed.     

What a wonderful milestone! Sheila enjoyed a beautiful day filled with smiles, love and celebrations. 

We were honoured to welcome Lincoln Jopp Conservative MP for Spelthorne, and Cllr Med Buck, who joined us to wish Sheila a happy birthday, with Cllr Med Buck also bringing a lovely gift for Sheila.      

Staff decorated the home in pink, dressed in pink, donated a pink hamper for the raffle and 100 cakes made to raise funds for Wear It Pink Event for breast cancer, a charity close to many of the staff and residents.   

We recently enjoyed a wonderful animal therapy session at Ashford House! Our lovely animal visitors were welcomed with open arms, with residents enjoying gentle cuddles, strokes and lots of special moments together.   

We made sure nobody missed out! Our little visitors were carefully carried in baskets to see residents who are nursed in bed, bringing them their own special moments of animal companionship, smiles and happiness.     

A couple of our residents enjoyed a wonderful outing to Heathrow Airport, watching planes take off and land!  

There were plenty of smiles, laughter and lovely moments as they enjoyed the excitement of the busy airport.    

Joy Pickles has beaten all the competition to be crowned National Registered Nurse of the Year in the Barchester Care Awards 2026.

The Barchester Care Awards celebrate the staff who go the extra mile for the benefit of the 14,000 residents living in Barchester’s 272 care homes and private hospitals across the country. Almost 6,000 nominations were received from homes and hospitals across the UK.

Joy’s win was announced at a special national award ceremony which took place on October 29th to celebrate the outstanding achievements of Barchester’s many exemplary staff members who work tirelessly to deliver the best care to their residents and patients every day. 

General Manager, Roisin Doyle, said: “This is an amazing achievement and the whole home is so proud of her. She has demonstrated her dedication and loyalty to this home and its residents year after year. I speak for all of us here at The Dales when I say we are all very proud of Joy and so lucky to have her as part of our team.”