Celebrating life at Barchester

Staff at Beaufort Grange were joined by local police personnel to clap for key workers in the community. As a way of saying thank you to the staff at Beaufort Grange, Avon and Somerset Constabulary gifted chocolate eggs to all staff and residents at the care home. Beaufort Grange staff then joined the police to clap and cheer to express appreciation for the effort being made by key workers to keep people safe and well during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We here at Beaufort Grange are incredibly grateful for the outstanding services provided by key workers. We have been overwhelmed by the kindness shown by our local community. Many people have brought flowers and cards for staff and residents. We have also received homemade face masks, visors, and kit bags, which have been a great help to our staff.”

We are planning to host a garden party for our local community once lockdown has ended and it is safe to do so. We are looking forward to being able to see everyone and express our thanks for everyone’s efforts.

Activity Coordinators, Jamie and Elizabeth, proudly displayed their colourful banner outside the home in an effort to boost community spirit in the area and remind people to keep smiling through these difficult times.

Bamfield Lodge would like to thank everyone in the local area for all of the care and support since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The last few months have been a challenge, as with all care services, but we have been overwhelmed with supportive pictures, messages, and care packages.

Staff at Red Oaks had a surprise parcel from a member of the Henfield under-8’s football team bearing gifts.

7 year old Ewan and his mum came to Red Oaks with a big box of quality hand creams for the staff at Red Oaks. The attached letter stated: “The team wanted to say a huge thank you for all the amazing work you always do at the care home, but particularly what you have been doing to support people during these challenging times. We understand that your hands are getting very dry and sore from using lots of hand sanitiser, so we hope that these hand creams help.”

In these unprecedented times, it is very touching that community groups are thinking about the NHS and the social care sector and being so generous in support.

It can feel a little lonely when you can’t have your family around you and the staff have to distance socially. Thankfully, we now have a large quantity of empathy dolls and robotic companion cats, and they are very comforting to hold and cuddle.

We do not share them at the moment, but we have enough for those residents who need a little loving. The best of all is perhaps that they neither answer back nor do they scratch, even when you poke them in the eye.

There are no words to tell you how grateful I am to this wonderful, fantastic place. Barchester should be proud and privileged to have such a wonderful care home under their name.

Being in lockdown doesn’t mean friends and families can’t connect with each other. Lots of us have been using Skype, sending letters and postcards or making videos to be enjoyed. Here at Moreton we have set up a screen in our reception area for our residents to enjoy all the messages, films and photos sent in.

The sun shone and we had a wonderful day celebrating the 75th Anniversary of VE Day. Three of our residents were based in India at the end of WW2.  We decorated our beautiful courtyards with bunting and flags, our chef conjured up some war time food, we sang songs and had a lovely tea party in the garden.

The local community group in Stonehouse that had planned the town’s celebrations sent us a box of goodies of food and drink as well as some fantastic knitted bunting.  Thank you Wendy and our Stonehouse friends.

Residents of Leeming Bar have been delighted each time they receive some beautiful handmade cards and messages from their loved ones and members of the community through their pen-pal initiative.

The residents have loved reading the messages in the cards and they have been displayed proudly in the home. As part of their recent arts & craft sessions, residents have been creating cards and messages to show and send to their loved ones; it is amazing how a simple letter, short story, poem or even a photo or drawing can brighten someone’s day.

Thank you to all the staff at Broadway Halls for doing such an amazing job. Although I can’t wait to see my mum, I do not have any worry or added stress as to how she is because I know she is getting the very best care.

Mrs.Mandy Black enjoyed the cocktail under the dryer, after one of our nurses, Mrs Nikki Correia, volunteered to do the hair of some of the ladies on her day off.

We always felt that our Mothers were well understood and well cared for and treated not only with compassion but also with love by those that looked after them.

As well as keeping in touch with families and friends via skype calls, our residents also enjoyed writing notes to loved ones and sending to families which began many conversations between each other via email.

Residents of our pen pal group have also connected with people all the way from Cardiff by sending postcards!

As I’ve not been able to see my Mother since the home went into lockdown, we as a family are truly grateful for the love and care that has been given to our Mother. We really appreciate the updates and knowing she is in safe hands.

It was very impressive how you managed to do all the checks and make sure that everything was in place (temperature checks, sanitisers, etc), yet still make the setting and visit very welcoming and relaxed.

Even though many of our residents have had to endure hardship throughout their lives (many of them have lived through at least one world war) the coronavirus crisis is new to them too. 

Our residents are very resilient, but great care was taken to observe their mental and physical well being during this even more difficult time. On hearing of the lockdown, we immediately sent around a flyer listing all of the one-to-one activities our team could offer them in their rooms. This list included memory games, draughts, dominoes, board games, cards, hand massages and nail painting, music and movement, relaxation sessions, drawing and sketching, or just a lovely chat over a cup of tea.

Every resident enjoyed these sessions at least once a day. We have also been taking a drinks trolley around the rooms; our residents love their lunch time sherry or glass of wine!

Residents spent time colouring rainbows and posing for photographs to send to their families recently at Laurel Bank to let them know that we’re doing well here, keeping busy and keeping hope alive. We will get through this together!

Staff, residents, loved ones and members of the community, including the local police, cheered on NHS staff and other key workers at Fordmill, who are helping to keep the country running during the coronavirus pandemic. Those who have recently lost a loved one, stood strong and everyone took a moment to remember as they showed their appreciation for our key workers.