Celebrating life at Barchester

100 Years Young! Happy Birthday, Trish! We had the absolute joy of celebrating our amazing resident Trish turning 100 — and what a celebration it’s been! The festivities began on Sunday, when Trish enjoyed a wonderful birthday party with her family at the beautiful Pavilion Hotel. Surrounded by love, laughter, and plenty of cake, it was the perfect start to a milestone week! 

On Tuesday, we continued the celebrations here at Ouse View — and what a day she had! Trish and our brilliant Activity Coordinator, Rachael, took a rickshaw ride into York, where they visited the stunning Minster and were greeted with smiles and birthday wishes from passers-by. She was beaming the whole way! 

Back at the home, Trish was in for another surprise — a special live performance from the incredible Main Street Sound Barbershop Choir! They wowed everyone with a set full of warmth, fun, and harmony, performing: Wink and a Smile, It Must Be Love, A fascinating explanation of barbershop harmony, Anthem, Girl on Fire, Love of My Life, Shenandoah, Gonna Find That Man, Make You Feel My Love and This Is Me. 

To top it all off, Trish received a congratulatory card from the King, which she proudly shared with everyone — a truly special moment! Everyone at Ouse View wishes Trish the happiest 100th birthday — a truly inspiring lady, full of kindness, spirit, and joy. Here's to a century of memories and many more to come! 

What an absolutely brilliant day we had yesterday at our VE Day celebration! In the morning, we were treated to some superb live entertainment from Tony and Patsy, who had us all singing along to classic songs from the 1940s. The residents absolutely loved it! We were joined in singing iconic tunes like "You Are My Sunshine," "White Cliffs of Dover," "The Way You Look Tonight," "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," and so much more! 

Everyone had a great time waving their flags to the music and getting into the spirit of the day! We also took part in the 2-minute silence at 12:00 to honour and remember all those who contributed to the end of WWII. Such a memorable day of music, remembrance, and togetherness. Stay tuned for more highlights from our VE Day celebrations!

The second part of our VE Day celebrations at Ouse View Care Home was nothing short of spectacular! 
After a lovely lunch, every resident came together for a delightful street party and indoor picnic with our wonderful soldiers from The Queen's Own Yeomanry in Fulford. We had so much fun with a WW2 quiz, delicious food, and drinks, while looking at some amazing memorabilia brought by the soldiers. Everyone laughed, reminisced, and shared stories about the war—it was a time of reflection, connection, and joy. 

As the afternoon came to a close, the soldiers surprised us by bringing out a bottle of Taylor's port for everyone to share, making it an even more special moment. A huge thank you to Rachael, our fantastic Activities Coordinator, who went above and beyond to ensure the day was a massive success! She decorated the whole foyer, created a beautiful atmosphere, and even dressed up for the occasion! One of our residents was so touched by Rachael’s efforts that she made a heartfelt speech, thanking everyone, especially Rachael, for making this day unforgettable. 

Thank you to all the staff, volunteers and soldiers who worked so hard to make this day possible. Your dedication means so much to the residents, and it’s days like VE Day that remind us of the importance of remembering and honouring our past.  For our residents, these days are an opportunity to reflect on their personal histories and to come together as a community in celebration and remembrance. It was truly a wonderful day, and we couldn’t have done it without every single one of you. Thank you all! 

Yesterday afternoon, we had the absolute pleasure of welcoming back the lovely Angela from Diggy’s Den for another heartwarming animal therapy session here at Ouse View Care Home.

Angela brought along some incredibly fluffy (and very cute!) rabbits and guinea pigs, and our residents were absolutely delighted to spend time cuddling them. The smiles on everyone's faces said it all – they loved every minute of it! 

Thank you again to Angela and her furry friends for bringing so much joy and calm to our afternoon. We’re already looking forward to the next visit!   

Yesterday, we had the absolute joy of celebrating a very special milestone – Happy 100th Birthday to our wonderful Joan! Joan started her big day with a visit from our much-loved therapy dog, Ted, and was completely surprised (and delighted!) to see her whole family gathered together. 

Our amazing Activity Coordinator, Rachael, made sure the lounge was beautifully decorated for the occasion, and in the afternoon, we were treated to a fantastic performance by The Hollywood Sisters – a perfect match for Joan, who loves music!

Joan enjoyed every moment of her party – complete with prosecco, a stunning birthday cake, and plenty of singing and dancing. The Hollywood Sisters wowed us with a nostalgic set including: Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree, Lollipop, Sentimental Journey, It’s a Long Way to Tipperary, Pack Up Your Troubles, White, Cliffs of Dover, Mr. Sandman, The Anniversary Waltz, Pink Shoe Laces (with choreography!), We’ll Meet Again, Lay Down Your Arms, Carolina Moon, and, a grand finale of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy – plus a beautiful harmony-filled rendition of Happy Birthday!

What a perfect way to celebrate 100 years of a truly special lady. Please join us in wishing Joan a very Happy 100th Birthday from everyone here at Ouse View Care Home! 

At Westergate House we are thrilled to exhibit the culmination of a wonderful art project that has taken place over the last few months. As part of our activities programme, Care Assistant Rose, who is currently completing a year in industry towards her degree studies in Textile Design at the University of the Arts London, has delivered weave workshops across all three communities in the home. 

Rose has spent time with residents demonstrating how to set up the miniature looms, selecting choices of thread, and creating textured fabrics that are wonderful examples of textile art.  

Everyone is delighted with their achievements! The individual pieces have been framed and assembled together to create a super collaboration of creative talent, currently on display in the Memory Lane community. Please have a look when you next visit; an absolute treat!   

Here at Westergate House, we have been celebrating Dementia Action Week, 19–25 May, and have been raising awareness of the early signs and symptoms of dementia.

During the week, we were privileged to host a talk by Sage House Dementia Hub, a bespoke hub in our local community, bringing together local Dementia Support services under one roof. The talk was immensely popular, extremely educational, and well-attended by both family members and visitors from the local community. We had a full house! 

We also held a Dementia Disco Afternoon, where our Head of Lifestyles, Lee, took on the persona of ‘DJ Dave’ (a natural transition!), taking our residents on a nostalgic journey down memory lane with music from all eras. There were plenty of props and wigs to go around, and the event was enjoyed by our residents, the staff team and visitors to the home. A lovely excuse for a party!  

Fridays are always fabulous at Westergate House. We love to welcome visitors to the home, and this week was no exception! To the delight of residents, four-legged friends in the form of alpacas strolled through the home with an air of confidence and inquisition.  

We marvelled at their friendliness, and, based on their excellent behaviour, wholly agreed that they are welcome at Westergate anytime.  

We love a good party at Hethersett. All it really brings everyone together and creates so many wonderful memories. We enjoyed a gorgeous afternoon tea made by our brilliant host, Bev. A big thank you to you and all the kitchen team and a massive thanks to everyone who helped out. It really was a team effort. We all enjoyed music by one of our favourites, Steve Carmel and Rachel.

Everyone had such a lovely day at our garden party, lots of smiles and happy faces, and the weather was great. We received lots of lovely comments on the day in our comments book. 

We support Priscilla Bacon Hospice Charity, so thank you to all that donated. We managed to raise an amazing amount of money for this special charity. We raised £438.71p, and we have now managed to reach the 1k target.   

In May, we went on a coach trip to the rural kitchen with our local forget-me-not café, which is a Dementia support group. As it was Dementia Action week, it was a lovely idea to get the community of Hethersett together.

We all met up at the forget-me-not Café to have a coffee, then we set off to Brooke to have a lovely meal at the Rural Kitchen. It was a lovely sunny day and the food was delicious, very well-organised. Everyone was so happy. We all sat outside in the glorious sunshine and had a look around the little shop and butchers. 

The restaurant was brilliant, and the food was top-notch. We couldn’t have asked for a nicer group of people.  

What a truly special end to the week it was at Waterside Court! We hosted an amazing outdoor Flower Arranging session in our beautiful garden and enjoyed the sunny weather with a drink. The session was quite uplifting and brought smiles, stories, and a touch of floral magic to our residents. 

With the garden in full bloom and sunshine overhead, residents took part in a hands-on session filled with colour and creativity. They carefully selected their favourite flowers, shared cherished memories tied to certain blooms, and crafted stunning arrangements that brightened both the garden and our hearts.

Moments like these highlight the joy of connection, the power of nature, and the beauty of shared experiences. We can’t wait to host more events that bring this kind of warmth and creativity to our community!

Residents at Field House enjoyed their visit from Little Acorns Nursery. Residents enjoyed helping the children decorate biscuits which our chef had baked fresh that morning. The children used coloured icing and sprinkles, then the children sang old nursery songs to us all, residents sang along to farmers in the den, Incy Wincy Spider and more. It was a wonderful afternoon for everyone, and we can't wait till next time. 

Our residents have invited the children to lunch next time, and we will host a Sports Day afternoon because most of the children will be off to primary school in September, so we wanted to make our last visit extra special.  

Our Head Chef Tony kindly delivered a fabulous cheese and wine event at the weekend. Not only did Tony do this, he set to work making lots of delicious cakes and cookies and making homemade sausage rolls, prawn cocktails and an Eton mess! Thank you for making this event such a success! And to the staffing team alongside Tony, who facilitated this event. 

We love themed dining and food-related activities in our home, whether it is resident baking, baking demonstrations by our chef, or simply enjoying homemade food put together to accompany an entertainment or activity within our home. Cheese and wine are always a hit, a much-asked-for treat, featured in our weekly calendars, the next one being only next week, within our Main Courtyard of our home over a game or two in a social setting (and hopefully in the sunshine!)   

We had a lovely morning spent at Rutland Water at Normanton Café, enjoying a selection of hot and cold drinks, cakes and Magnum ice-creams! It was such a relaxing atmosphere, just quietly taking in the view and discussing the pastimes of sailing and being on or close to the water for many. 

Following, a few residents took a stroll down to the reservoir's edge, and we walked round and saw a viewpoint overlooking the beautiful Normanton Church. On our walk back to the bus, we stopped and saw baby ducklings. It was such a tranquil way to spend the morning for our residents. 

Thank you to Tracey for being a part of this outing! We enjoy regular outings within our home, offering choice to our residents, to enrich their minds, bodies and souls, as well as having our ‘Wish Tree’, whereby residents can name any special outings they would like to take on for an activities team to facilitate their wish fulfilment.  

Kathy, one of our Dementia Champions, kindly supported me by taking some of our residents to this event at the Council Offices in Oakham. We had tea and biscuits, watched a video surrounding Dementia and discovered relaxation techniques during a wellness session. Thank you to the Admiral Nurse team at Rutland County Council for letting us join us this morning, and it was wonderful to meet with the High Sheriff of Rutland, Richard Chesterfield, for the second time within a week. 

Across Dementia Action Week, we made lace cards, watched person-centred documentaries and listened to person-centred music, sketched steam trains and accompanying literature, done magic painting (water painting), been encouraged to access our well-placed, themed rummage boxes, looked through Memory Box items, done ‘show and tell’ of our artwork and photobooks, danced, enjoyed the gardens and neighbouring spaces to our home and had a resident-led read a-long on our Memory Lane (to name only a few of the activities enjoyed across the week). 

What a joyful day we had with the wonderful ukulele band who came to play for us – and they certainly didn’t disappoint! From the moment they started strumming, the room lit up with toe-tapping tunes, sing-along favourites, and a whole lot of good energy. 

Their mix of cheerful classics and feel-good songs had everyone smiling, clapping along, and even having a little dance in their seats. The ukulele has such a warm, happy sound, and paired with the band’s fun, friendly spirit, it made for an afternoon full of laughter, music, and memories.

A huge thank you to the band for sharing their time and talent with us – it was a real treat, and we can’t wait to welcome them back!

We had the absolute pleasure of welcoming Ben, a wonderfully talented pianist, for a visit – and what a treat it was. As he played, the space came alive with beautiful melodies that brought a real sense of calm and joy. 

From soft, gentle pieces to familiar tunes with a personal twist, Ben’s music had everyone smiling, relaxing, and just enjoying the moment. There’s something so special about live piano – it changes the whole feel of a place, and Ben’s playing created such a warm, peaceful atmosphere. It really was one of those moments you want to bottle up and keep. 

Thank you so much, Ben – we hope to see (and hear!) you again very soon.

We’re still buzzing from our recent flower arranging session – and what a gorgeous afternoon it was! With buckets full of carnations, sweet Williams, daisies, and gypsophila, we spent a relaxed few hours creating beautiful bunches, sharing laughs, and getting stuck into something creative. Everyone brought their own style – some went soft and delicate, others bold and bright – and every arrangement looked amazing. 

It wasn’t just about the flowers (though they were stunning) – it was the chatting, and that lovely feeling of making something by hand. Whether you came along solo or with friends, there was such a warm, feel-good vibe in the room.

Big thank you to everyone who joined us – you made it a truly special day. 

Through the month of May, Amanda has been working on the physical fitness of our residents and Lewis has been working really hard on his upper body strength. Lewis and Amanda designed a movement and fitness plan together and agreed on some objectives. These were to feel less stiff in his shoulders and to maintain his muscle mass and, more importantly, to have fun. 

We agreed on using 0.5kg weights and focused on some really gentle movements, including: hammer curls, alternating arm raises, shoulder press and shoulder shrugs.

Lewis has been working hard and had a great time with Amanda, and we continue to focus on our movements and are moving up to 1kg very soon. Lewis gained a great sense of confidence and really enjoyed challenging himself in a meaningful and powerful way. Amanda and Lewis had so much fun too.  

Now our sunflowers may not be doing their best, but there was plenty of time to plant more and try again! While we waited for them to grow, we brightened the home up with a flower-arranging competition. 

The displays looked absolutely fantastic and sure did brighten up the place.   

We defiantly like to keep moving at Canmore lodge and always have great fun at our fortnightly session with Bex from FitCare Scotland.

 She always gets the tunes on and gets everyone moving, bringing a bright new energy to Canmore Lodge.

We just love our fortnightly yoga sessions with Yvonne. 

The residents always really look forward to the sessions and Yvonne brings such a calming and fun vibe to the home which everyone loves!  

We got our binoculars and logbooks out to learn more about our native birds. We had a great time filling bird feeders and looking up what we’d seen to make sure we logged them correctly.  

Last year, over 1 million people took part and between them, they counted 17 million birds! It was a lovely experience for everyone, especially the bird experts here.   

My name is Neville, and I am a therapy cat. I help people cope with anxiety, illness and various disorders through human-animal interaction. 

I love getting cuddles from the residents at Archview and seeing them every week! Neville is a much-loved visitor at Archview.  

To celebrate the London Marathon, we organise our own mini Archview Marathon. 

We gathered together. Staff, residents and family members. We all had a great time. The weather was fantastic too. 

Residents enjoyed the arranging of VE celebrations across the week in both our residential and memory lane communities. Residents enjoyed sharing memories together. There was a lot of joy and laughter in and around the home with a few sombre moments as we remembered the sacrifices that were made.

Albert attended our church service with his medals as he wanted to represent all those that couldn’t be with us and the Fallon soldiers. Carolyn from Kiddletdivey music therapy treated us to the best of British morning residents and the staff danced and sang the morning away together in true Wheatlands style! It really was a week not to be missed. 

We all love a good boogie at Fordmill anyway, so having our first Dementia Disco to conclude our Dementia Action Week seemed very fitting. Music brings such joy to everyone in so many different ways, but allowing our residents to reminisce with a select playlist of their favourite songs or bands with gentle volume and lighting, created more inclusive participation.  

We were also quite lucky that this coincided with our local community’s annual music festival. We therefore worked together with the festival organisers and allowed residents the opportunity to show support to the festival-goers with a special message for them all. Keeping these connections to our community allows our residents to really feel part of it all and be seen. They could also be heard as they sang their hearts out too!

Our little visitors were weely, weely well-behaved when they made a visit to the local Charleton Fruit Farm to entertain our residents. Fordmill is situated in an agricultural spot with many of our residents being ex-farmers or brought up on the farm, so they were delighted to be in amongst the piggies. 

The little squeals as they got their bottoms scratched had everyone in hysterics. Even the piggy smells had residents reminiscing of their early mornings on the farm and cleaning out the pigstys. It was amazing to see the residents so engaged and asking the farmers all about their choosing of variety of pig.      

Our VE celebrations brought lots of different stories and emotions to the surface. In the days prior to the 80th year celebration, residents reminisced about helping mothers with food rations, to the emotional toll of hearing the warning sirens.  

We made a display with the help of our local Air Station Museum, which was a great talking point. We therefore decided to mark the anniversary with the happiness that the street party brought all those years ago.  From the looks and the menu, to the flags, music and sunshine, our residents partied in style with families and friends, grateful for the moment and paying homage to the people and ways of life that were lost but not forgotten.    

Animals have always played such an important part in our residents' lives here in the Wheatlands, from growing up in the countryside and on farms to being the wife of the local vet. They love the companionship and comfort they bring but also are able to reminisce about their own pets at the same time and share wonderful memories. 

Jenny loves nothing more than chatting to Lauren, Winston’s owner, about her pets and sharing her photo albums with her. While Barbara enjoys teaching Trixie new tricks each time she sees her. Our residents look forward to visits from both of our therapy dogs throughout the month.     

As part of our make a wish initiative, Joan wanted to go somewhere special as part of her 102nd birthday celebrations. She chose a trip to Blist Hill Victorian museum where she met her niece, who enjoyed the day with her and fellow resident Mary.  

It really did feel like we had all stepped back in time, walking through the streets of a Victorian town, visiting the local shops and taking in all the tights and sounds of yesteryear. Joan especially enjoyed a trip to the general store and reminiscing about all the old brands ‘Tate and Lyle’ brought lots of memories flooding back, as Joan’s dad and Grandfather used to work at its Liverpool factory. She said they were the backbone of the business. 

Joan and Mary then enjoyed a trip to the New Inn Pub where they sang Happy Birthday to Joan and everyone in the pub enjoyed a good old-fashioned sing-song around the piano enjoying old Victorian songs. One of Joan’s favourites was ‘boiled beef and carrots’, a traditional Victorian song played around the piano. We finished the day off with traditional fish and chips cooked in beef dripping and a good old-fashioned cuppa!