Celebrating life at Barchester

This February the home was filled with warmth as we celebrated love in all its beautiful forms this Valentine’s Day! The day reminded us that love isn’t just romantic, it's kindness, companionship, memories, and simply being there for one another.

To our wonderful residents, families and team; thank you for making our home such a caring and joyful place every single day; sending love to all.        

In the lead up to Valentine's Day, we were delighted to welcome some very special visitors from Little Bear Nursery! The residents and the little ones spent a wonderful morning together creating beautiful Valentine’s cards, sharing smiles, laughter, and love.

The children very kindly gifted residents and the team the sweetest little heart keepsakes as well as cards, which have taken pride of place in bedrooms and memory boxes alike. There were smiles all around as everyone enjoyed creativity, song, bubble popping, and, of course, lots of cuddles and hugs!

Moments like these remind us that love comes in many forms; friendship, kindness, laughter, and connection across generations. A huge thank you to Little Bear Nursery for filling the home with so much joy and happiness. We can’t wait to welcome you back soon!    

Residents and the team are thrilled to welcome Therapy Dogs Alf and Billy from Jack and Pals Therapy Dogs for their weekly visits!

There are always bright smiles and cuddles a-plenty, with heartwarming moments created as Alf and Billy make their rounds, spreading comfort and joy wherever they go!

From gentle strokes to playful paw-shakes, these visits are always simply un-fur-gettable, with residents fondly reminiscing of beloved pets from years gone by; proving that the love of a dog is truly timeless.

A huge thank you to our pawfect boys and Mum Wendy for creating smiles wherever you go!     

Winchester House Care Home enjoyed a rather unusual encounter while at work this week.

We were overwhelmed by having a visit from Mark and his therapy duck Goldie, who is two and a half years of age.

Mark and Goldie are quite the celebrities around the Medway towns, as they do a lot of work for a variety of charities, raising money, also visiting schools and care homes.

The chance of meeting this celebrity duck bought a light-hearted moment into all our lives this week as he brought so many smiles to all the residents and staff faces.

Mark introduced Goldie as he walked around the room, allowing the residents to hold or stroke him, he even waddled around the room himself, allowing people to see him. He was also very photogenic. This was an unusual animal to bring in, but also amazed at how much joy he brought to Winchester House.    

We were busy celebrating Pancake Day with delicious pancakes and yummy toppings.

The residents had a wonderful day, filled with pancake-inspired activities. We enjoyed homemade pancakes made by our Chef, Tom, and decorated them with fresh fruit, berries, syrup and chocolate. The favourite is the traditional squeeze of lemon and sprinkle of sugar.

We got together in the afternoon for various themed quizzes, crosswords, word searches and sudoku puzzles.      

We hosted our Cheese & Prosecco afternoon, which was a great success, bringing together residents, families and friends in the local community.

Everyone enjoyed delicious local cheeses, prosecco, and wonderful live saxophone music from Clare. The afternoon was full of smiles, laughter and great music bringing a wonderful atmosphere.   

We love a cheese scone! 

There were smiles all around in our baking session when we got out the mixing bowls and ingredients. Carol, who loves to bake, couldn’t wait to get her hands into the mixing bowls to make her speciality cheese scones and loved every minute.

While a few of the other ladies preferred to sit back and watch, waiting for the best bit – tasting them still warm out of the oven smothered in butter with a cup of tea, they smelt absolutely delicious but tasted even better.

A lovely afternoon enjoyed by all. 

Valentine’s Day at Queen’s Court was a wonderful afternoon shared with family, friends, and residents. A live concert brought lots of fun and special solo performances that made the afternoon truly memorable. 

Our chef prepared a delicious spread, as always, rated number one by all who attended.

We thank all the guests who joined us that day. It was also a wonderful opportunity for our residents to meet, chat, and enjoy the company of friends and family.

Michael & Diana celebrated 60 wonderful years together surrounded by family, close friends and friends in the home at their afternoon tea party with a beautiful cake specially made for them, along with sweet treats and party foods.

Beautiful music with their daughter and granddaughter playing wedding songs on the guitar, piano and flute and everyone singing along to their wedding song “Love divine."

It was a really special day and a real honour to be able to celebrate with them as they were showered with cards, flowers and gifts.
They both had a wonderful day.