Celebrating life at Barchester

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Christian Presence was a truly special occasion for Edie. It was a wonderful opportunity to be part of such an important milestone, reflect on the journey and achievements over the years, reconnect with old friends. Sharing stories, laughter, and cherished memories with familiar faces made the celebration even more meaningful.

It was a beautiful reminder of the lasting friendships, shared experiences, and strong sense of community that have continued throughout the years.    

We recently had a talk from photographer, Stephen Wilder, which he calls ‘A penguin Tea Party’, they are photos from his trip to Antarctica. They were amazing photos and our residents were truly amazed. One resident called Jean went on a cruise around the world many years ago and went to Antarctica. However, she remembers it not looking like it does now.

We have also been playing seated beanbag boccia weekly, since Jay from Everyone Active Leisure centre came in, in August and September to do free boccia game classes, we have been hooked on the game, and we now play a beanbag version every week and it’s become quite competitive. Jay plans to return soon to continue the sessions. He will have quite the competition when he’s back, we have developed a very good skill.        

We have since had a wonderful cheese and wine afternoon with singer Jason. He was our very first singer since opening to come entertain us, we had a selection of wines, picked specifically for the cheeses. After chatting to a resident about what wine to buy, he asked his brother to talk to me about what wine to buy, as he used to taste wine for a living, so he knew his stuff! We had a lovely afternoon, we had family attend also.

Lastly, we went to the Jovial Sailor pub for an afternoon drink. We caught the last of the sun. It was peaceful in the garden. We chatted about the RAF as we found they all have a link to the RAF. Everybody had a glass of G&T with no hesitation!      

We recently visited Longacres Garden Centre. We hadn’t been before, but we are slowly making our way around all the garden centres. Funnily enough, we saw 2 other Barchester homes in the café, we chatted with them, and it was lovely to meet their residents. We have been invited to meet up with Farley Gardens at theirs or at ours. We bought more flowers for the garden beds by their bedrooms. They are on a mission at the moment to brighten them up.   

We made a butterfly together by painting the petal shapes individually and sticking them to a base. Carol and Graham joined in and found it very relaxing and enjoyed doing something different.   

Each week we have year 6 children from Barnsbury school come in for intergenerational music making. Last week we had a go with the life-sized touch tablet to make music together. We wanted to tie in the use of technology.  

Later in the week, we went to the Church of the Good Shepherd in Pyrford for a special harvest service. The scouts, cubs, brownies and guides attended with their club's flags, and also did a small parade. We stayed for tea and chatted afterwards. Members of the church were thrilled to see us, and thought it was so nice we came. We usually go to their monthly dementia-friendly church service, so this one was a little different for us. Jean quoted, “well… it was interesting”. I think she prefers the traditional services with an organ.

We also had Lizz, who plays the violin, do a concert for us, she started with a quiz, guess the musical, then she played music our residents enjoy, a lot of classical and sing-along tunes. She was amazing. Jean told us she used to play the Cello. She was very impressed with Lizz's skill. Lizz has got a cello at home and said she could bring it in perhaps next year when she has got to know Jean better. Jean said she wouldn’t play the cello or piano now. Jean had the biggest smile on her face and was singing along. Jean is almost deaf but she could hear the violin! Also, Carol, who is non-verbal, says words here and there. She became more alert when Lizz started to play and was tapping her feet and clearly enjoyed the music.   

Good company and great conversation – our male residents love gathering for our new monthly Men’s Club in the welcoming atmosphere of the Ritz Inn.      

Our residents had a wonderful afternoon enjoying some retail therapy at Lakeside. It was lovely to see them checking out the autumn fashion and smelling the new autumn fragrance. 

Herbert enjoyed picking up therapy bears and having a discussion about them with activities staff. We had a very successful afternoon with joy and laughter.

A picture is worth a thousand words, and these smiles speak volumes. We captured so much joy during our resident's trip to Tyndall's Garden Centre. 

We saw moments of pure wonder while admiring the giant coloured pampas grass, and the connection being shared amongst friends. 

Each picture tells a wonderful story of community, happiness, and a magic of a local outing,     

Our residents enjoyed a fantastic trip to House of Dreamers at the ExCeL Centre, where they stepped into a colourful and immersive world full of creativity and fun! From swings in the clouds and beautiful floral displays to quirky themed rooms, there was something exciting around every corner.

It was lovely to see everyone getting involved, having fun and making some wonderful memories together.     

We had a sweet visit this morning at Paternoster House.

Our residents, staff and families enjoyed browsing the traditional retro sweets that bought back so many memories and stories were told.  

Even a taste of a sweet sparked memories of growing up with these delicious, traditional tasty sweets. We can’t wait for our next visit.