Celebrating life at Barchester

Our residents enjoyed another fabulous trip to Tadcaster Golf Club, where some of them tried their hand at putting at the indoor mini putting green. Our residents, Denise and John, got some great tips from the golf pros at the clubhouse to improve their swing! For our other residents, they enjoyed a nice cup of tea and some delicious cakes from the clubhouse café!

This week, Highfield is having a Christmas makeover, as our team begin putting up the beautiful Christmas tree decorations. Thanks to our lovely residents, Sylvia and Anne, the tree in our Memory Lane lounge looks very festive and ready for Father Christmas to arrive!

Martin our Activities Lead and James from Home.FitVitality certainly made sure the residents enjoyed this afternoon’s exercise class.
James bought in his inflatable reindeer antlers and the residents threw hoops at them trying to get them hooked over the antlers.
This was to improve the residents hand and were coordination as well as have some fun and laughter as well.

Magnolia Court was full of feathered mischief last month when a parliament of Owls came to visit the home. Our residents were pleasantly surprised to see their new furry friends ‘hooting’ around their home as Colin, Dudley, Roger and Geoff paid a visit.

Senior General Manager Wayne Hughes added some light humour and said: “These fine majestic birds were an Eagle Owl and a White Barn Owl that enjoy coming to visit our residents at Magnolia Court and sharing fun stories and updates with each other. Indeed, our White Barn Owl spent time telling our resident Judy about how the Eagle Owl had recently snuggled a little too close to her in the Barn during one wet and rainy day and she wondered what the intention of the Eagle Owl was. Without hesitation the White Barn Owl put off the amorous intentions of the Eagle Owl but simply stating ‘Too Wet to Woo’.”

Resident Lucilla was especially impressed and excited by the visit from the Owls as they are her favourite animals: She said, “As a child I used to love to hear the calls of the Owls and was blessed to have one in a nearby barn. Today was very enjoyable and it was wonderful that the Owls were free to flutter their feathers amongst us and sit with us”

Animal Therapy is one of our resident's most treasured activities and is based on the scientific principle that human-animal interactions reduce stress, anxiety, raise oxytocin which helps you feel calm and is a great mood lifter.

We had a visit from 3 delightful Cavapoo puppies who bought adorability and fun to enrich our resident’s lives in the home. They were treated to a display and naughty antics from the furry trio, strutting their stuff up and down the corridors and in and out of the resident’s rooms

Resident Judy who has a wealth of experience with animals was particularly in awe of the playful puppies and stated that she wanted to keep them overnight for snuggles and cuddles.

We had an absolutely delightful afternoon here at Florence Court, as our residents took part in a wreath making workshop led by the lovely Ellen and her mum Liz from SimplySeasonal2023. The bistro was filled with laughter, warm conversation, and the calming scent of fresh greenery. Everyone got hands-on with ribbons, dried fruit, and beautiful decorative pieces.

It was lovely to see how engaged everyone was, helping each other choose colours, sharing ideas, and proudly showing off their finished wreaths. Each creation was unique, reflecting the personality and style of the resident who made it!