Celebrating life at Barchester

At Leonard Lodge we support and encourage our residents to continue doing the things they love whilst also making new friends. We hold regular activities that help or residents use cognitive and motor skills to provide holistic benefits that enhance the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of residents.

This week our Residents enjoyed an arts and crafts session focused on painting birds with a spring feels. As well as the benefits of creating the arts the social connection from these sessions creates a community feel at Leonard Lodge.

Easter Joy Arrives at Atfield House as our special Easter Bunny made a surprise visit to all our wonderful residents! Later in the afternoon, our residents grandchildren, staff members children, and children from the local neighbourhood arrived for the Easter Egg Hunt. Once briefed, they followed the Easter-bunny into the garden to find the treasures. 

They returned home with baskets full of Easter eggs and warm wishes. These Easter visits brought so much joy and sparked beautiful emotions throughout the home. It was truly heart-warming to see everyone light up and share in the spirit of Easter together. Today was filled with smiles, laughter, and a few happy tears.

Moments like these remind us how special it is to create happiness and lasting memories for our residents.       

For our Easter Saturday at Atfield House, we invited the furry and gentle little creatures, guinea pigs, rabbits, skinny pigs, a chinchilla and a hedgehog and a lovely kind dog to visit our residents.  

Our residents and their visitors enjoyed an hour of stroking and feeding the animals, before the animals also made room visits. It was a truly beautiful, calming and therapeutic experience for all. These Easter bunnies were truly real!

We are so lucky to have so many interesting places to visit within easy access of our home. Recently we visited the Milestones Museum of Living History and explored the museum’s streets, shops and buildings to discover how people used to live, admired the unique collection of vintage vehicles and had a go in the penny arcade! 

Our residents spent time learning interesting and fun facts about the museum's collections and enjoyed a reminiscing session, where they shared amazing stories about their childhood.

We'd like to thank all the Milestones Museum staff for their kindness, generosity and guidance. It was a very exciting and enjoyable day out for all!       

Staff and residents at Mortain Place care home in Eastbourne are celebrating because their fabulous Managing Director, Michelle Macadangdang, from Barchester’s South East Division, is stepping out of her comfort zone to compete for culinary supremacy in the Barchester Charitable Foundation Cook Off 2026.

Swapping their business suits for chefs’ whites, Michelle and her fellow Managing Directors from Barchester’s five divisions are going head to head with members of Barchester’s Executive team to cook up a storm and raise vital funds for Barchester’s Charitable Foundation.

The Charitable Foundation helps connect vulnerable people and those living with a disability to community groups in their local area by providing grants to improve mobility and quality of life.  Each year the Foundation distributes thousands of pounds to individuals, small community groups and charities across England, Scotland and Wales.  In 2025 the Foundation achieved a donation milestone of £424,000 which enabled the charity to provide vital help to a staggering 262 small groups and charities, plus 123 individuals in one year alone.

Michelle and the other MDs are keeping their cards very close to their chests regarding what they will be cooking but they have been practising hard.  Michelle comments: “I have to admit I am a little bit nervous about it all but I’m also excited to take part in something so different from my day job.  People that know me, know my cooking skills are somewhat limited but I am extremely competitive and I want to win so I will do my very best, and it is for a very good cause.”

General Manager of Mortain Place care home, Katie Brewster adds: “We are all so proud of Michelle for taking part in this challenge, we know she will give it her absolute best shot!  The Foundation is so close to all of our hearts and the Cook Off will raise vital funds to help so many people, we’re 100% behind her – MDs for the win!   

Staff and residents at Braeburn Lodge welcomed the children from the Carousel Nursery to join them for a morning of intergenerational ‘arts and crafts’ as young and old came together to show their mutual love for all things art and creative.

Victoria, the Activities Co-ordinator at Braeburn Lodge commented: “Our residents love to paint, colour and sketch, so World Art Day is a fantastic excuse for us to get out all our art materials and really get creative and what better way to do this than embracing the joy of art with young and old.”

There has been a special kind of excitement in our home over the past week, thanks to the arrival of our newly hatched ducklings. From the moment they joined us, these tiny bundles of fluff have captured everyone’s hearts  and quickly become part of our daily routine.

Yesterday was an especially memorable day as our residents gathered for the ducklings’ bath time. The room was filled with laughter, gentle splashes, and plenty of smiles as everyone helped care for our newest little members. Watching the ducklings paddle around with curiosity and confidence brought a sense of calm and joy for all of our residents.

Our ducklings are growing fast, and we’re excited to continue watching them explore their world  and to share many more heart-warming moments with our residents along the way.

If you would like to come along to our home and visit our new fluffy friends please call us on 01483 359340!

We had the joy of celebrating Tamil New Year with one of our lovely residents Sri. 
She shared her traditions with us, and we shared the moment with her, complete with delicious marruku and parytham paryinia for everyone to try.