Activities at Archview Lodge Care Home

Residents across our services had a delightful time during a special virtual sensory storytelling event, led by Art Historian Jon Sleigh from the Historic Royal Palaces.

Jon took us on a journey to discover some of the more unusual and unexpected inhabitants of the palaces and the Tower of London, sharing fascinating stories about the pets at the palaces.

Whilst enjoying the virtual experience, our residents were treated to hot beverages, delicious biscuits, berries and cakes.  It was a truly lovely time for all.

Across our services Residents had a wonderful time participating in an interactive virtual talk with Pippa Catterall, Professor of History and Policy at the University of Westminster, where we delved into the rich history of coronations.

During the talk, we explored fascinating topics such as the coronation chair, the crown, and other significant aspects related to King Charles' upcoming coronation. Our residents were thrilled to have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the memoirs of past coronations from 1937 and 1953, as well as learning about the coronation oath and what to expect from the ceremony, including the music, guests, and pageantry.

We took Margaret & George along to Dalkeith museum to have a look around. Both residents, myself & Sally found it very interesting. George is a Woodburn man himself and he knew a lot about the past history of Dalkeith, like the Brush factory, the train station that was in Dalkeith where the Morrison’s shop is now.

We held an easter egg hunt in the garden of Archview Lodge. We invited staff's children and local children to pop along and do an Easter egg hunt. Some of the children were very competitive but all enjoyed themselves. One little girl said to me "please can you not hide them so hard next time." Residents also enjoyed an Easter photo shoot.

Head of activities, Diane, and Jean, a resident here at Archview Lodge, have been raising money for a local girl through completing a sponsored silence.

Sophie Walker has been battling Wilms tumour since she was 10 years old and has encountered a series of unfortunate events with her treatment. Sophie is the niece of Victoria who is a previous member of our team at Archview and has remained a lifelong friend to the residents and staff in the home.

Unfortunately Sophie is experiencing trouble with her spine due to her treatment for the tumour. Sophie was due to undergo surgery to her spine, but this was cancelled in April 2020 due to the Covid pandemic, resulting in further health complications for Sophie. Sadly, due to the nature of Sophie’s illness, the NHS are not able to offer much more in the way of treatments and there are no promising clinical trials on the horizon.

Sophie has been offered some palliative treatments in the UK, however, the family are aware of a promising treatment which may offer a cure for Sophie’s illness, but this means Sophie and her family would need to travel abroad, which is costly.

When we read this story on Facebook, we decided we had to do something to help. I spoke with Jean and she came up with the idea of a sponsored silence to help raise money to get Sophie the treatment she so desperately needs.

We managed to raise nearly £400!

A huge well done to Jean for completing this and helping to raise those vital funds!

Oliver celebrated his 94th birthday with his daughter and son in law and friends. Oliver is our ambassador here at Archview. Oliver’s birthday celebration’s continued. Oliver’s grandson arranged a piper to play for Oliver and residents. Which everyone enjoyed.