Celebrating life at Barchester

The halls of Rose Water Place were recently filled with an extra dose of holiday magic, all thanks to a special four-legged visitor. Dressed in her adorable festive best, Gurtie the mini horse trotted into our care home, bringing with her an abundance of joy, laughter, and plenty of Christmas spirit to share among our cherished residents.
The experience was truly heartwarming. Witnessing the genuine smiles light up on everyone’s faces spoke volumes; it was a pure, unscripted moment of connection and delight. For many of our residents, interacting with Gurtie brought back fond memories and provided a wonderful, uplifting start to the holiday season festivities. It was a perfect way to officially kick off Christmas at Rose Water Place.
We want to extend a huge and heartfelt thank you to the fantastic team at Mini Horse Heroes. Their dedication to creating these unique and heartwarming experiences for communities like ours is commendable. Moments like these, which foster interaction, joy, and companionship, truly remind us what Christmas is all about: sharing love, creating lasting memories, and nurturing a strong sense of togetherness right here within our own community.

Ensuring that we host events that relatives and friends can join is very important to us here at Ashfields Care Home. 

We held our annual Christmas Party to start the festive fun at Ashfields. There is so much more to come over the festive period. Check our "Countdown to Christmas" below and Facebook page to see what fun our Residents are having in December.

Our Activities Team is dedicated to ensuring that we organise events that encourage our residents to host their families and friends at Ashfields. Our home is always to open to loved ones who wish to take part in our life enrichment program. 

One of the cornerstones of our life enrichment program is live musical entertainment. Resident involvement in choosing genres along with feedback after each performance means that we are able to constantly improve our activities calendar.

Svetla is one of our Residents favourite acts as she performs music form around the world. With an "Oompah" here and a "jig" there are Residents even donned some fancy dress to join in.

At Ashfields Care Home that's what we like to do - create memories, and ensure our residents are leading full enriched lives.

At Ashfields Care Home we celebrate birthdays not just as a mark of ageing another year but as a celebration of life, achievements, and personal growth. It's a time for reflection, gratitude, and looking forward to future possibilities. Birthdays provide a special opportunity for us to help residents to gather with loved ones and create lasting memories.

We arranged a Flutist as a special birthday treat for Daphne and with a Christmas theme all our Residents enjoyed wishing Daphne a truly happy birthday.

At Ashfields Care Home we ensure every resident is able to feel extra special on their birthday.

Rachel our Home Services Advisor plays an essential role in delivering community events, encouraging residents to take part helping to create a vibrant and inclusive home for everyone to enjoy. Thanks to her enthusiasm and commitment, Bere Grove continues to be a wonderful place for everyone.

The residents and staff transformed a lounge into a mini-farm as they were treated to a visit from Michelle’s Petting Party with a whole host of furry friends who came to say a festive hello. It was an afternoon of pure, unadulterated joy. Residents and staff’s faces lit up as they took turns in stroking and cuddling the animals.

Activities Co-ordinator, Tina said: “The residents and staff thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon, it was not just about fun; it was a real treat for the resident’s well-being. The little festive touches to the animals was so adorable it certainly made all of us smile. It was also great as Michelle was able to take the lovely animals and visit residents in the comfort of their rooms so that no one missed out on the fun. Michelle’s Petting Party certainly brought the barnyard to Elm Bank, but more importantly, she brought a whole host of happiness, we cannot wait to have Michelle back to visit us again.”

General Manager Larisa Bledea said: “It was so lovely to see all the joy the animals created for the residents and staff, and the lovely festive touches were simply brilliant, we cannot thank Michelle enough for the joy she created.”
 

The residents were recently wrapped with joy and warmth as they celebrated World Children’s Day with a memorable and compassionate visit from the children of St Thomas More Catholic Primary School.

The wonderful intergenerational gathering in the morning at the home was a resounding success, fostering beautiful connections between the young and old. The morning was filled with the children singing and reading to the residents. The children had dedicated their time in coming over and spending time sharing their favourite books and singing to the residents.

Tina, Activities Co-ordinator said, “It was a wonderful morning for this beautiful activity and the children bought such immense delight to the residents. The residents also got to enjoy listening to the children singing and reading their favourite books.”

General Manager Larisa Bledea said: “It was so lovely to see the children here, our residents are always looking forward to the children coming over and today was as wonderful as every other time they have been over to see us. To have these links with local schools is very important to us all here at the home”
Our varied life enrichment programme keeps residents active, and provides a daily choice of engaging physical, mental and spiritual activities tailored to residents’ interests and abilities".

 

With the team’s hard work throughout the year in mind, the Christmas Light Switch-On was organised as a thank you from both residents and management to the dedicated staff and their families. 

Residents enjoyed watching the team member’s children excitedly receive their gifts from Santa and his special “reindeer”, a miniature pony. One resident shared, “This is so magical, I could watch this all day. There’s nothing like seeing the kids so excited to see Santa.”

The Christmas lights switch-on marks the beginning of the many festive activities and events planned in the coming weeks.

The Shepton Mallet Ukulele Group filled Crandon Springs on Saturday afternoon with a jam-packed audience of residents, families, friends and staff, and they did not disappoint!

Their festive concert had everyone singing, swaying, clapping and shaking percussion instruments, with lots of fun all round. And when `Sweet Caroline` kicked in, well it really was “so good, so good!”

Meg, General Manager at Crandon Springs, said: “What a great time we had! The Ukulele concert was really popular, so we all squeezed in and sang along. Many thanks to this fantastic and fun group for entertaining us so enthusiastically, and bringing the music and Christmas cheer to our home once again.”