Celebrating life at Barchester

This week our residents took a trip to Exeter Cathedral Christmas Market. We had a wonderful walk around looking at all of the stalls and doing a little bit of shopping before stopping off for a hot chocolate.

A beautiful festive morning spent together! 

Highfield residents enjoyed a lovely afternoon trip to our local pub, The Rockingham Arms in Towton. Activities Coordinator, Neil, offered to buy all the drinks, so our residents, John, Denise and Malcolm gladly took him up on the offer!

This afternoon our residents enjoyed singing their hearts out to some Christmas classics whilst enjoying a cocktail or two.

The festive cheer and laughter filled our home and has certainly got us ready for the big day.

We hit notes we didn’t even realise were possible!

This week, we welcomed local country music talent, Nette Jay, to Highfield for her debut performance. Our residents loved listening to some relaxing festive and American-style country songs as we count down the days until Christmas! By the end of her performance, all of our residents in attendance were fully in the Christmas spirit!

Field House residents were our Christmas countdown with an afternoon of music and dancing with the lovely young Kerry.  

Resident ambassador Jean said everyone can dance and join in, even sit, and staff can’t wait to join in the fun. We had a lovely afternoon, and we can't wait for lots more.      

The St John’s Church Epping ministry team held their final service of 2025 at Ashlar House, celebrating with a joyful and festive Christmas gathering. The service was filled with meaningful prayers, much-loved Christmas hymns, and a wonderful sense of community.

We were pleased to welcome new residents alongside our regular attendees, all joining together in heartfelt song and worship. It was a beautiful occasion that reflected the hope and joy of the Christmas season.

We extend our warm thanks to everyone at Ashlar House for their ongoing welcome and partnership. We look forward to returning and continuing our ministry together in 2026.       

During December, both of our units – Buchan Neuk and Memory Lane – each held their Christmas parties. We were delighted to welcome back Calum McDonald to entertain us. 

Both parties were absolutely brilliant! The dancefloors were packed and residents, their families and staff all had a great time together. The rooms were filled with so much fun and laughter – accompanied by some great dance moves! Some Christmas Punch and nibbles were enjoyed by our festive buffets too!        

During December, we were delighted to welcome back The Puppet Gang for a fun Christmas-themed show. They brought some very special guests with them, including Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton and Frosty the Snowman. 

Our residents absolutely loved meeting each of the different puppets and the room was filled with so much fun and laughter. We may have broken the Guinness World Record for the number of photos taken!

What a great afternoon we have had, and we would like to say a huge thank you to Aileen and Tim for bringing their show back to us again.  

During December, some of our residents enjoyed a wee trip out to Happy Plant in Mintlaw. 

They enjoyed a delicious Christmas lunch with all the trimmings. Great fun was had as we pulled the crackers and reminisced about Christmas memories from years gone by. We then had a browse around all the lovely Christmas displays and decorations. We would like to thank the staff at Happy Plant for looking after us so well.

We were all feeling very festive and, of course, we had the obligatory sing along on the bus on the way home!