Celebrating life at Barchester

Today we felt nostalgic and decided to decorate some fairy cakes. A simple way to spend the morning when the weather simply can’t decide what it wants to do! Gathering together in our beautiful dining room, the ladies and gents made these stunning cakes to enjoy with a beloved brew!   

All our activities at Strachan House are resident-influenced. Do you have any favourite nostalgic activities that you’d love to share? 

Strachan house paid homage to a legend this week with our What Dolly would do day. 

Staff and residents shared tips on how to be kind, sang Dolly songs on karaoke before eating a stunning American-themed lunch! 
We can’t wait to use our Dolly's advice to have more kindness, love and peace.   

In our recent meeting, residents at Strachan house expressed that they’d like to know more about what would happen if there was a fire! Enter, stage left, our marvellous maintenance team! 

Mikey did a thorough talk-through of our emergency procedures, leaving everyone smiley and reassured! We will host resident fire drills every 3 months because a safe house is a happy house.    

During September, we celebrated all things country music. 

As well as listening to our favourite songs and enjoying a few country tunes at our Calum concert, we also had a wee bit of fun with some cowboy games. The cactus ring toss turned out to be a firm favourite, with some stiff competition! Our props gave everyone a good giggle – especially the inflatable horses! Ye Ha!       

Gary, our head of maintenance, and Cyril lead the monthly gardening club.

This summer, the residents in a meeting expressed that Geraniums were their favourite bedding plant to see in the garden. Our colour scheme this year was red, white and blue.

However, due to the long hot summer, the Geraniums lasted the longest. Cyril is now planning for Autumn with a new colour scheme.

Ashminster's pat dog Jessie won best in show at the Windmill pet awards on Bank Holiday.

Jessie was awarded best in show for her great interactions in boosting residents' well-being. Jessie visits here at Ashminster House every week for cuddles, brushes, and, of course, lots of treats.

Happiness, love and joy are shown in our residents' faces when Jessie is visiting.   

It was a very special day as our resident David’s wish came true! We headed out for a lovely trip to Zak’s American Diner, where David enjoyed a delicious blue cheeseburger with curly fries — and he certainly enjoyed every mouthful! Cynthia and Peter joined us too and had a wonderful time enjoying their meals and the atmosphere. 

It was so lovely seeing everyone enjoying themselves, sharing smiles, good food and making special memories together. These are the moments that make our trips so worthwhile! 

David had his 90th birthday in August and said to us all he wanted for his birthday was a good burger. We try to make as many wishes come true as we possibly can.     

Barbara took a trip down Memory lane at Hythe Canal. Residents took the scenic route by the stage coach bus to Hythe.

We visited the shops, had a coffee and watched the paddle boats on the canal. Barbara shared memories of walking her dog along the canal with her husband as well as feeding the ducks.    

What a wonderful morning bringing our local community together for dementia awareness.

In partnership with Dementia Forward, Radfield Home Care Harrogate, The Rainbow Care Group and Red Kite Nursery, we enjoyed autumn-themed activities, an inspiring intergenerational session and the chance to share information about local dementia support.