Celebrating life at Barchester

We love the outdoors and spending time in the garden.  Residents took advantage of the recent warm weather to spend time playing games and catching up with each other, sharing stories of time spent in our own gardens and flowers they grew.

The garden games brought a little friendly competitiveness but lots of laughter!

Our home delighted to host a heart-warming “Coffee with a Firefighter” event, welcoming members of the local fire brigade into the home for an afternoon of conversation, community spirit, and delicious treats.

Residents, visitors, and staff had the pleasure of chatting with our dedicated firefighters, learning about their daily work and hearing stories from the local area—all while enjoying freshly brewed tea and coffee in our cosy lounge.

The home was also thrilled to welcome the children from the ‘Safe n Sound Nurseries and Pre School’ who were incredibly excited to join us in the firefighting themed fun. 
 

We were delighted to welcome the children from Cashes Green School to Moreton Hill for a special visit this week. The children were accompanied by their teachers, and were warmly received by our residents upon arrival.

The afternoon was filled with lots of laughs as the children and residents spent quality time together. They enjoyed chatting in the garden, where stories and smiles were shared across generations. Indoors, they worked together on jigsaw puzzles, sparking conversations and teamwork. Outside on the lawn, everyone joined in for a lively parachute game, which brought great energy and fun to the afternoon.

To round off the visit, we all came together for a cheerful sing-along, with both young and old joining voices in a heartwarming finale. Our residents were full of praise for the children, commenting on how polite, well-behaved, and engaging they were throughout the day.

Events like this are truly special, bringing connection and happiness to everyone involved. We’re so grateful to Cashes Green School for making the effort to visit, and we look forward to welcoming them again soon. A wonderful time was had by all!

What a wonderful day of fun, flowers and great friends. Today's mini bus trip took us to Camelia Botnar Garden-Centre! Our residents loved looking around the gardens, charity shop and animal area, then enjoyed a lovely coffee and cake! A trip to the garden center is a firm favorite of our residents. To find out more about our trips out please contact us on 01403 618406

This week was dedicated to our ladies dusting down their fascinators and crafting their bonnets. Our Gentlemen reviewed the racing cards and chose their favourite horses, debating the winners and losers!

The sun was shining and the bubbles flowing and what better place to enjoy a glass of fizz than in the garden?

Staff, residents, relatives and the local community came together at Iris Court Care Home to enjoy an open day that was held at the home this Saturday!.

We hosted a variety of activities throughout the day, including a Dhol drum performance from Pali a friend of Iris Court during the morning, whilst the afternoon Sadie from Strictly entertainment hosted her all aboard virtual cruise show which both were enjoyed by everyone who came to our event.

 To finish the Joyous afternoon the home was visited by The Mayor of Stevenage Councillor Nazmin Chowdhury, who viewed the home and spent time with residents, families and staff. 

Staff and families were delighted to see different generations having fun together. with visitors enjoying plenty of refreshments, such as Traditional fish and chips, prawns and cockles, beers and cold soft drinks.  all prepared by out catering team.

 many Residents  said, “We thoroughly enjoyed it. We were all surrounded by lots of great people, and the refreshments kept flowing. The weather held out until we finished. Staff did a great job, not just on the day, but organising the event and getting everyone together.”

At Iris Court we love hosting events that we can open up to our relatives, friends and the wider community. Life at *Care home* is about being part of the local community and enjoying life long hobbies whilst also exploring new experiences.

Residents and staff at Waterside Court were filled with joy during a special visit from Jean, a gentle donkey from Island Farm Donkey Sanctuary. 

The heart-warming encounter was especially meaningful for resident Bill, who recognized sanctuary staff and reminisced about fond memories.

Jean’s calm and affectionate nature quickly made her the centre of attention, offering comfort and delight to all. The visit was part of Waterside Court’s ongoing commitment to enhancing residents’ well-being through enriching animal therapy experiences.

On Saturday 21st June, we turned our garden into a mini festival site for Carechella 2025 ;our themed open day full of music, food, and fun!

Residents, families, staff, and local visitors joined us for a day of dancing, glitter, mocktails and live music from the incredible D’Artagnan, Maggie O'Hara , Kim on the Sax and  Duo Joachim and Cecilia. Even the rain couldn’t dampen our spirits!

Our kitchen team, Matt and Shinu, served up festival-style Canapes with a twist, homemade chips and some fabulous cake, it’s safe to say no one left hungry.

A visitor told us, “I’ve never been to a festival before, this was the best day!”

Carechella wasn’t just a celebration; it was a chance to bring our community together, create joyful memories, and show that life at Iverley is always full of love, laughter, and a little bit of sparkle.

Tour de Barchester 2025 – What an Incredible Ride!

From 10th to 13th June, the annual Tour de Barchester made its grand return – and what a journey it’s been.

Over 4 days, our amazing team, led by Simon McCall, Commercial Director, and Shona Conway, Project Co-ordinator, cycled an impressive 225 miles from Dumfries to Cheshire, stopping at 17 Barchester care homes along the way.

We were lucky enough to be their penultimate stop on the last day, and what a time we had! It was brilliant to see them knowing the hard work they had put into their week, and welcomed them in in the sunshine with ice lollies and refreshments at the ready We were also joined by David, The Mayor of Cheshire East Council who welcomed the cyclists to Prestbury Beaumont alongside our Residents before sending them off to their final stop at Adlington Manor Care Home - Barchester Healthcare

Together with colleagues, friends and members of the community, we’ve raised funds and awareness for Barchester's Charitable Foundation – and most importantly, brought smiles and plenty of fun to all involved.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated and supported us. Here’s to next year’s ride!

To support the team, please donate here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/tour-de-barchester-25

Is it a bird? No, it's a plane! This morning we had a lovely trip to the airport pub hotel where we watched the planes coming in to land from Manchester Airport. We're very lucky to have such a fascinating stop not that far from us, so we took advantage of the clear and sunny morning to go and see who and what we could spot! We had teas and coffees, and most of all we had a amazing time! Lots of smiles and enjoyment for all.

When the weather is hot and sunny its nice to go to a shady spot and this week we went to Silvermere lake for our trip out in the mini bus.

A nice cool drink and some cake was much needed and very much enjoyed.

This morning we took our residents on a visit to Gawsworth! We walked around the beautiful village, looking at the wonderful scenery and chatted to a local lady that recommended we visit Gawsworth Hub Community Café and Shop. We had refreshments and chatted with the excellent volunteer staff, we all had a lovely time and we will definitely be returning.

Our residents really enjoyed this week's session of Gardening Club! This week's request was hanging baskets! They really wanted to make some more baskets to display around our gardens and the outside of our home. It was lots of fun, they chose which flowers they wanted to use and Chris, our Gardener, made sure they had everything they needed. Look at them all finished! They look very bright and beautiful, and we had a great time making them.

We had a visit from Alyson Spicer from Shocking Posh hats to time our celebrating Royal Ascot week.

We adore our weekly chair aerobics here at Moors Manor. This week, we even managed to make the most of the gorgeous sunshine too!

We try to make every day vast and unique, so with fitness classes in every setting of the home, it really does add to the excitement and variety of our daily activities calendar. 

What fun we have!