Celebrating life at Barchester

The chaps of Farley opted for a relaxed art session over a few cool beers and snacks this month.  We were only too pleased to oblige!

Delighted with our new cookie cutters, Maggie got to work in rolling out the pastry to make our almost-famous dog biscuits for our monthly Bark & Brew community café for pups. Nice work Maggie!

John's Big Day!!

Bayleaf had it's latest birthday celebrations yesterday as John celebrated his 80th birthday in style with a trip out to the Boat Haven in Godmanchester followed by a special meal once we were back at the home.

John is an avid fan of birds so we were more than happy to gift John with a luxury bird feeder for him to have outside of his room so that he can enjoy his new visitors when they come and stop for a rest and some food.

Happy Birthday John. We hope you had an amazing day.

Our residents love a Easter Egg hunt and receiving their Easter Eggs from the team but they also love giving back. Our General Manager, Dacre, thoroughly enjoyed receiving some hand-crafted eggs from one resident. She handed him an "Egg Puzzle" which he manged to solve and spell Happy Easter Dacre!

There is nothing quite like an evening in our café  during one of our regular wine and cheese evenings. It’s a wonderful opportunity for everyone to come together and enjoy a relaxed, sociable atmosphere in their home.

The home's talented chef pulled out all the stops, preparing a wonderful selection of cheeses and crackers,  with a variety of wines and refreshing juices, to refresh the palette for the next cheese tasting.

These gatherings are a cornerstone of our life enrichment and are designed to promote friendships which support our residents stay connected and engaged.

Residents visited our sister home Melbourne Springs this week for a special afternoon filled with music, laughter and friendship. 

The visit gave our residents the opportunity to socialise, make new friends and spend quality time with the lovely ladies and gents at Melbourne Springs. Bringing our communities together is always something we cherish. We enjoyed the afternoon and wonderful music as smiles appeared across the room, singing and clapping to the music. 

Our resident Joyce soon encouraging everyone to get up and join her for a dance whilst spreading her joy and happiness onto everyone else. 

We had a wonderful afternoon filled with fun and laughter, and are incredibly grateful for our sister home helping us create such a wonderful day. 

Tony, a resident at Elm Bank was a Centurion tank driver back in 1952 for 3 years, stationed in Germany. Speaking of his memories of that time in his life sparked the Activities Lead Tina to see if it would be possible for Tony to once again stand on top of the Centurion tank that he spoke so passionately about. Tony always spoke of his one wish, which was to see his beloved tank again. 

Activities Lead Tina, said: “Tony has a model of the Centurion tank in his room that he built himself, and hearing his wonderful story of his days based in Germany and his longing wish to see a Centurion Tank again is what sparked the idea to make his one wish come true for him. We got in touch with the local Armourgeddon Military Museum to see if they had a Centurion tank and asked if it would be possible to get Tony to come and visit as a surprise. The wonderful staff at the museum went one step further, and organised it so that Tony could use suitable steps to climb to the top of the tank and stand on his tank and fulfil his wish.” 

Tony said: "I had no idea where I was going or what I was going to see, when I seen the tank at the wall in the museum, I just stopped in shock. The tank just looked at me, and I looked at the tank, I had to go straight up to it and have a closer look. I was very emotional. I felt great when I was standing on top of the tank. When you have been looking after a tank like that for three years it meant so much to me, it more or less made cry, with happiness."

General Manager Larisa Bledea said: "We were thrilled to be able to fulfil this wish for Tony. He has many stories of his past that he shares with us all and his one wish was to be up close to his beloved tank, and for us as a home with the help of the Armourgeddon Military Museum, his one wish was granted. It was a very emotional afternoon for Tony, and staff.”