Activities at Atfield House Care Home

Our residents enjoyed a fan session held in traditional clothing with Chinese music and beautiful coloured fans. They were in different colours and sizes and looked beautiful when waved through the air. We were instructed by our Chinese dancer with dance moves that coordinated with the Chinese star sign for 2026, which is the fire horse.   

We learnt to make fire with the fans, make symbolic finger movements for a positive and energetic new year. We passed a ball from fan to fan, which is a traditional game played on Chinese New Year in China. Then the dancer performed for us, and it was breathtakingly beautiful, to watch the energy, movement and grace with which she performed for us. We had a real taste of Chinese culture and traditions brought to us. Thank you to our 2 dancers for sharing the experience with us on Chinese New Year!     

At Atfield House, we all enjoyed participating together in the Valentine's Day preparations: residents made heart-shaped biscuits that were topped with melted chocolate. Staff members created roses from serviettes and placed a biscuit heart inside as a morning surprise for our residents for Valentine’s Day at breakfast! It all looked so beautiful with the red roses. 

We created personalised Valentines cards for all our couples, and residents enjoyed anticipating the special afternoon guitar concert with Chris and a special Valentines tea! Family members and residents filled the dining room for our special Valentine's tea and concert and one resident even presented a rose to his beloved. The atmosphere in the room was so beautiful, everyone was chatting, tapping on the tables, the rhythm of the music and enjoying the treats, and the sound of the guitar enhanced the howl Valentine's feeling. Truly love was in the air! Our residents and visitors said that they enjoyed the afternoon very much and thanked us for this lovely experience. 

How nice to see everyone having such a great time!   

Residents at Atfield House enjoyed an afternoon of laughter and Christmas cheer. The theatre performance of the story of Dick Whittington was full of songs and music and there was lots of interactive and comical whit woven into the performance. 

Residents and visitors were encouraged to be just as witty and bold in their answers, as the actors were in their questions to the residents during their performance. The show was colourful with its costumes, lively through the dancing, funny, through its heart-warming comical interactions. The storyline was traditional and yet crafted for a contemporary audience. A resident said afterwards that the show was enjoyable and funny and brought back memories of theatres she used to enjoy.   

Atfield House had some very special visitors on the 1st of December in the afternoon before our Christmas light switch on party and also during the light switch on party!

Many visitors and residents wanted to have a look at these rare creatures, at least in this country. With coats and hats, many ventured outside to get a glimpse of the majestic antlers and be able to feed and stroke the reindeers.

Visitors remarked,” I have never seen a reindeer before and have come today to see one in real life.” The reindeers greeted our visitors, who came for the light switch on party at the door who tried to get a nice picture taken. The two reindeers were inseparable and were used to each others' company, but one was more lively and the other one much calmer. For us, it was probably a once in a lifetime experience to get so close to these otherwise wild creatures that come to help Santa Claus deliver his presents to children all over the world, if they have been good!     

Our residents at Atfield House and our family members always look forward to when the animals come to visit our home. The anticipation grows and when they arrive the people cannot wait to see who, or what has come this time! Even our small visitors loved attending the session and getting a close encounter of an owl, a first time for many visitors and residents too! 

The animal visits always bring with them a special feeling of peace and gentleness and these kind creatures hold a special place in many the hearts of our residents and family members. The rabbits were stroked, guinea pigs fed, and the owl admired, while Nakuru, the lovely Labrador, collected attention with his ever-wagging tail! After an hour of immersing ourselves in the soft furs of the rabbits and meeting the majestic owl, we started to visit residents in their rooms, who were not able to join us downstairs in the main dining room. Everyone enjoyed a look at the owl, some dared to stroke her soft feathers too!

We had a great afternoon and everyone  enjoyed experiencing another visit from our little furry friends with lots of smiles and admiration on our faces. We are looking forward to seeing them all again soon!

This year at Atfield House, our Chinese New Year was packed with exciting activities and events: we have been making our very own dragon costume over the last month and residents helped to cut out the cardboard box, paint the teeth and gave great instructions to make it look great. They saw how the dragon took shape and at last came alive on Chinese New Year on the 17th of February! The home was beautifully decorated with red lanterns and banners, and we learnt that the bad Nairn could be chased away with noise and the colour red! 

So family members and residents all played drums, shook coconut shakers and watched how the dragon danced through the room. One of our residents even played along with his own professional drum. He played so well and energetic, and everybody cheered him on and loved it! We all had great fun and enjoyed the afternoon with Chinese treats and were all eager to know what the fortune cookie message held for each of us for the coming year of the fire horse!      

As part of National Storytelling week, a group of children from the Kido Nursery came to visit us. The teacher read  a story to the children and our residents enjoyed sharing in the joy and movements that the story brought to the children. 

We, in return, told them a story with our puppets. The children were mesmerised by the puppets' clothes and shoes and wanted each turn to hold the puppet, shake its hands and look into its face! The children just outgrew the puppet by a head and the excitement in the room was great!

The teacher led the group to sing a few songs, and we all joined in. They finished the session with a convincing, enthusiastic and overwhelmingly good rendering of the ABC song.

We are looking forward to seeing them again soon.     

Residents at Atfield House enjoyed an afternoon of uplifting and fun Carols performed by the Joyful Voices Choir. Residents joined in singing and clapping and treasured the opportunity to have a chat and reminiscence with the singers after the performance. The Joyful Voices were much appreciated for their visit to Atfield House for the second time this season and left behind memories of Carols sung by our residents in years passed.

The choir had played our manager's favourite Carol, and performed it for us. It was a wonderful and joy-filled afternoon for everyone who participated in listening, singing, clapping and enjoying the music!

Staff members at Atfield House came together after their days' work to celebrate our team and the diversity in our team. Everyone  was encouraged to wear their cultural dress and join us for some diverse nibbles and great dishes from different cultures. 

The evening was filled with music and dancing and lots of fun, hugs and laughter. What a great way to promote team spirit, foster unity and create joy amongst staff members. Big thank you to our manager, Subin, who put on the event for us.

The different cultural music and dance was great fun and the food was fabulous!   

The residents at Atfield House love music, so we were so glad to have Margaret join us again at Atfield House for our Remembrance Sunday with her golden harp. Before the music started, residents lit candles in remembrance of their loved ones. And we also lit candles in remembrance of all the people that died in the first and second World Wars and all the wars since then.  

Margaret played beautiful songs like Britannia, Amazing Grace and also some songs that everyone could sing along to, like 'Pack Up Your Troubles', and 'It’s a Long Way to Tipperary'. There was also some remembrance poetry among the music. Residents enjoyed the music very much and clapped along to the popular songs. Residents and their visitors enjoyed a close look at the harp afterwards and also got a chance to chat with Margaret. Even though it was a serious event, the music lifted us, and we had a lot of fun singing together the good old songs which Margaret played so beautifully. Everyone said it was a good afternoon and remarked that the cake we had made together for the event was delicious!  

We loved celebrating Chinese New Year – Year of the Horse with our wonderful staff and residents! The home was beautifully decorated with vibrant red lanterns and festive decorations, bringing joy and good fortune to everyone.

There were smiles all around as residents and staff enjoyed the celebrations together and being entertained by the talented  Golden Years Fun group. 

Our residents were absolutely thrilled to take part in the festivities — from enjoying traditional treats to sharing laughter and special moments with the team.            

Residents at Atfield House were all gathering in our dining room with home-made shortbread, a drop of Scottish whisky or tea and coffee to celebrate the famous Scottish poet and songwriter Robert Burns. We were all awaiting to hear George perform on the Bagpipes!

When he arrived in a Scottish kilt and started to play lots of beautiful Scottish tunes on his bagpipes, family members, friends and residents all really loved the sound and his performance for our Burns Celebrations. 

George encouraged the audience to dance and everyone enjoyed shaking a leg at the rhythm or clapping hands and some residents even got up to dance! The atmosphere was so good that nobody wanted to leave after the performance as everyone enjoyed socialising with each other. We had a lovely afternoon singing together and enjoying the music that George played so professionally on the Bagpipes. The shortbread was delicious too!    

This year, our wonderful Resident Ambassador, Pauline, had the honour of switching on our Christmas lights. Residents, visitors and children all gathered to see the magical moment, when all the lights got turned on. 

There were a lot of cheers heard in the building and a "wow”, as the golden reindeers lit up the hidden Nativity scene behind them! Refreshments and carols by the joyful voice choir followed and everyone enjoyed themselves. The food served was delicious and delightful and lots of thanks to all the staff, visitors and children, dressed up as elves, who contributed to the wonderful cheerful atmosphere that evening.

The smiles, the sparkle, and the sense of togetherness made it a truly magical moment. Here’s to a season filled with joy, community, and festive cheer!  

We were looking at the weather forecast the whole week before the outing and when the day finally arrived to go to Syon House Christmas Market a sunny face appeared on the forecast to our great delight! 
Syon House holds special memories for many residents, who have lived in this area for a long time. The visit brought back memories for some residents, and they also noticed some changes that had occurred since the last time they visited. 

We enjoyed the natural surroundings for the festive Christmas market. It was inspiring. The handmade items, and the food we tasted was gorgeous. We walked through the Conservatory with its beautiful cactus and palm trees and were mesmerised by the beauty of it all. The outing was much enjoyed by everyone, and we are looking forward to our next adventure already!    

Pumpkins were carved in the afternoon, sweets and treats were arranged, and when it was time, the pumpkins found their places outside and then the guests arrived. Our residents at Atfield House were delighted to see so many children stream through the door on Halloween. There were plenty of sweets and chocolates to be given away, and even some healthy tangerines too!

Staff children and children from the local neighbourhood enjoyed meeting residents and cued up bravely for their turn, to have their buckets filled! The costumes were exciting and residents had a lot of fun, finding out the names of the children hidden beneath these exquisite attires! It was lovely to welcome so many children, and we had so much fun and joy giving away sweet treats and smiles!