Celebrating life at Barchester

Our resident's family let us know their fondness for birds and bird watching, so we arranged an outing specific for this gentleman. It was great as the day we planned was the day the ospreys were due to hatch (coincidence not activities planned unfortunately). 

We enjoyed an informative talk on arrival and had refreshments. On return to home, we are broadcasting the live feed from Rutland Water to keep an eye on the Ospreys hatching (it has become quite addictive to follow).          

Our Activities: Caroline and Jess supported a resident and their family with a pub lunch outing to The Old Pheasant, Glaston. This was especially important as the resident's sister is visiting from Australia. We were really pleased to help deliver this wish fulfilment.

It was great to see you all come together in an environment outside the care home. Remember to pop on our wish tree at reception, your loved one's wishes and speak directly with the activities team, as we would love to fulfil as many special moments as possible.  

Huge thank you to our friend of the home, Charles, for bringing a military vehicle to our home as part of our VE Day celebrations. It was Charles's Birthday, he still visited our home. We made sure to sing him Happy Birthday! 

We thank you for making the afternoon fabulous for our residents! As well as this, we enjoyed a themed performance by Nicky Downs, VE Day themed afternoon tea and friend of the home Pat Blake using flags with our residents to exercise to a musical performance bedside and showing her family wartime memorabile.         

To celebrate the start of The Chelsea flower show, we enjoyed flower arranging in the home, creating beautiful displays to have in our rooms and the community. 

We shared stories of our favourite flowers and what our gardens are like from our childhoods.      

We at Oakland’s offer and ensure we include all our residents with our activities and as we have a large percentage of our residents are cared for in their rooms its important we meet their interests. 

Geoff and Terence have always been keen gardeners and so we decided to start small with them planting some sunflower seeds that they can then watch grow on their windowsills. Both gentleman were really happy to still be able to take part in the gardening experience.    

Here at Wheatlands, our residents enjoy regular guest speakers. Bridget, our resident ambassador, asked if we could have an ear health talk. We invited Specsavers along for our coffee morning. 

The residents enjoyed an informative talk about the importance of good ear health, how to prevent common ear health issues. Everyone had the chance to learn more about hearing health, receive advice and ask plenty of questions. Jackie was delighted to find out that Specsavers home visits can help, and provide continued support here at Wheatlands without her having to travel.

Residents were even more delighted with the delicious cakes our guest speaker brought along and their new bags that Barbara kindly modelled for us!               

Residents at Lydfords were pleasantly surprised to see animals such as Kittens and Guinea Pigs roaming around their lounge as Bex from Pet Pals Therapy recently paid a visit.

Residents love to welcome our smallest of friends. The youngest little one is just 9 weeks old. Jiggy Wrigglers Kidderminster, Ludlow and Bridgnorth runs a special vintage session designed especially for care settings. The bond our residents and the children have made is really magical, and we can't wait to see how much they have grown when we welcome them back in July.

Music and interaction with others can stimulate positive memories associated with happy moments in a person's life. Upbeat music promotes physical movement and general mobility along with the release of endorphins, leading to laughter, happiness and a feeling of positivity. 

Intergenerational activities bring together people from different generations and have a positive impact on both our residents and also the children. The room was filled with joy, happiness and lots of bubbles! It was truly a magical morning for everyone.       

We were delighted to welcome Penryn Camera Club for an afternoon of photography and conversation. Residents enjoyed viewing a collection of images from Uganda, South Africa and a flower market in Paris, which sparked plenty of discussion and happy memories.