Meet our Activities Coordinator, Rita Green

As a Lifestyle Activities Coordinator, I will be spending time with each resident and their loved ones to build a detailed picture of each individual, so that each person’s stay with us is as meaningful as possible.

Although I have been working within this field for many years, thanks to the uniqueness of each resident, I am always enjoying new experiences in my role. My goal is to create an activities programme that caters to the capabilities of residents, including, but not limited to, individual and group activity.

I've spent the past few years forging strong relationships within the community and developing a pool of talented individuals that can supplement our in-house team to bring out the best in those we support.

As we never stop growing and changing, it is important that we maintain an up-to-date Getting to Know Me booklet. With your help, the activities scheduled for your loved ones will be as relevant and enjoyable as possible.

I’m very much looking forward to working with all of you.

Activities at our home

Activities are an integral part of life at our care home. We want to ensure that the people we support have as much fun as possible during their time with us, so it’s important that our activities programme is created with the interests of residents in mind. Our skilled Activities Coordinators bring a certain uniqueness to the home that can’t be found anywhere else, and which is reflected in the activities they organise.

Life at Ashlar House Care Home

VE Day Celebrations

We paid homage to the brave men and women of World War 2 by celebrating VE Day. Several of our residents shared their memories of this very special day 75 years ago with BBC Essex of moments when Victory in Europe was announced.

We all paid our respects by marking 2 minutes of silence at 11:00. Special decorations were put up around the home and Bridget from Cake Art Essex spoilt us all with stunning VE Day Cupcakes.

It was special time in our calendar that was enjoyed by all!

A Double Celebration

We had two reasons to celebrate: firstly, we all raised a cup to our nation's drink of choice in acknowledgement to National Tea Day. We also joined the rest of the nation in celebrating the Queen’s birthday.

The beverage we think of first to help us process good and bad times... for many of our residents tea isn’t simply a way of hydrating, it has typically become the focal point of many social engagements with friends and family members.

To celebrate National Tea Day we at Ashlar House put on a full tea trolley service, whizzing around the house delivering a smorgasbord of fragrant teas available, along with appropriate dunking materials, which is an absolute necessity to celebrate such a prestigious occasion!

We had many tea-related activities on offer, including trivia games that spanned the centuries. We Brits have had such a personal relationship with tea. As tea is never just tea, we also used video conferencing as an opportunity to include our residents' friends and families to share a brew and a chat... another full day at Ashlar House.

Over the Rainbow

In such unprecedented times, residents, families and our dedicated carers at Ashlar House, are already showing wonderful community spirit in a time of need. The display around our home is keeping us going!

Happy Easter

We celebrate Good Friday thanks to Andrew at Tesco in Epping, who provided limited access so that all of our residents could receive an Easter egg on Sunday. We also had a very welcome addition to the Ashlar House family, as our resident Robin’s eggs hatched. We are wishing everyone a happy and safe Easter from all at Ashlar House.

Keeping in Touch

3 weeks into government enforced isolation due to COVID-19, we have ensured that all Ashlar House residents are at least able to see their loved ones via FaceTime or other video conference services. It is so heart warming being able to share these precious moments between family and friends locally, but also as far as Spain and Germany.

Every day is a new memory that is shared, despite the global crisis. Our first priority is the health of our residents. but by connecting each resident with their global support network, we are also ensuring their mental well-being.

Pen Pals

With the restrictions in place to help protect our residents from COVID-19, we have had to get creative with our normal social interactions with the local community. Several of the schools that we associate with have started sending in ‘pen pal’ letters from their students to our residents.

We are sharing these letters and encouraging our residents to spend some time with replies. Even in the face of a global pandemic, we are finding creating ways to ensure we stay connected to the relationships we have helped to foster.