Activities at Austen House Care Home
Here at Austen House, we like to get to know those we support, and from the day of moving in, our activities team will spend time on an individual basis learning about interests, likes and dislikes, life history and favourite hobbies.
We provide a wide range of activities, from one-to-one time, manicures and board games, through to live entertainment, prize bingo and our ever-popular cheese & wine events. Our activities team will also tailor individual activities to ensure residents can have as much or as little involvement as they choose.
In the summer months, greater focus is given to outdoor activities, such as barbecues and garden parties. In conjunction with our Chef, themed events are planned throughout the year, bringing activities and food together.
In their pink polo shirts, our activities team are easily identifiable and embrace ideas and suggestions from residents and their relatives to ensure that the activities provided keep those we support engaged, stimulated and entertained.
Iuliana Buican
Hi my name is Iuliana, I was a history teacher for 12 years before I joined Barchester in 2017. I am passionate about my job and love working with people. I enjoy planning and delivering meaningful activities which make a difference to our residents lives.
Read our brochure 'Life-enriching activities' for more information about life in our care homes.
Read our brochure
Activities and Events Partnerships
As part of our bespoke life-enrichment programmes, we host a number of live virtual events in the home on a regular basis through a number of partnerships with places of interest and world class performance companies
Life at Austen House Care Home
World Poetry Day
We were very happy to celebrate World Poetry Day, as we all share a passion for reading.
Throughout the day, we had interesting discussions about our poems and poets and we hosted a Poetry Club where our residents read beautiful seasonal poems and passages from their own favourite poems.
World Poetry Day is a fantastic excuse for us all to spend the day with our noses in our much-loved poetry books.
It was a great day for everyone, especially for the keen poets at the home.
St Patrick’s Day Celebration!
Residents and staff at Austen House celebrated all things Irish for St Patrick’s Day. The home was decorated with shamrocks and everyone dressed in green to mark the day.
Held on March 17th, Saint Patrick's Day actually observes the death of St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, but the day has come to be a huge celebration of Irish heritage and culture.
We marked the day by making shamrock decorations, going on a virtual tour of Ireland, learning Irish dances and enjoying a live music show that took place at the home. Local singer, Jim, performed a selection of Irish songs including Molly Malone, The Irish Rover, Danny Boy, The Belle of Belfast City and many more. Residents joined in with the singing, clapping and dancing and sampled some Guinness too.
Our residents had a brilliant day, everyone has enjoyed the festivities and we all agree St Patrick’s Day is the best of all the saints days!
International Women's Day
Residents and staff at Austen House marked International Women’s Day on March 8th by spending the day celebrating the achievements of wonderful trail-blazing women throughout history.
International Women’ s Day takes place on March 8 every year to celebrate women’s rights and inspire people to fight for gender equality. A United Nations-sanctioned global holiday, IWD celebrates women’s contributions to society, raises awareness about the fight for gender parity and inspires support for organisations that support women globally.
Residents took part in discussions about the role of the many different women who have shaped history from Cleopatra and Boudica to Florence Nightingale and Marie Curie right through to Queen Elizabeth II and Mrs Thatcher. They talked about the important women in their own lives and celebrated the achievements of their fellow residents.
Also, the staff arranged a tea party, flowers and gifts for our beautiful ladies and we all had a wonderful time.
Simona Cioinac, General Manager at Austen House said: “We’ve all had a really interesting day thinking about the very many brilliant women who have had such an impact on our lives, whether that was an historic figure or people in our own family. It was good to share our experiences, take stock and reflect on how much society has changed over the years.”
Valentine’s Day!
Austen House was filled with flowers, cards and sweets in celebration of St Valentine’s Day. Staff and residents celebrated the day of love enjoying a live music performance that took place at the home. Local singer, Gary, performed a selection of love songs including Love Is In The Air, All You Need Is Love, Love Me Tender and the residents joined in with the singing, dancing and clapping. Also, our residents and their loved ones enjoyed a romantic and delicious Valentine’s Day dinner organised by our fantastic Hospitality and Life Enrichment team and spending the day of love together. Stela, a resident at Austen House said: “It has been a lovely day. It was wonderful to see everyone go into so much effort to get involved with the day’s festivities. I really had a very special and wonderful time with my husband.”
Birthday Celebration!
We had a wonderful time celebrating Gill's 87th birthday in style at Austen House. The home held a surprise birthday party for Gill with live music by Jim and a delicious homemade cake made by our head chef in honour of her birthday. Gill was joined by staff, family, friends and other residents and became very emotional as everyone started singing Happy Birthday to her. She was very happy dancing, clapping and felt very special to be surrounded by so many people. Gill said that when she came to Austen House, she never thought she would meet such lovely people and make so many friends. Gill was also showered with gifts, cards and flowers from all her friends and family and commented that she felt like the "Queen for a day". Happy Birthday Gill!
Burns Night!
Residents and staff at Austen House were involved in a wide range of activities to celebrate Burns Night. To honour the famous Scottish poet, we hosted a poetry and music session to learn more about the Scottish Country Dancing and the Ceilidh to mark the Scottish institution. Our residents enjoyed a hearty meal of Scotch broth, Haggis with neeps and tatties all prepared by our Chef. It was also a perfect occasion to enjoy a Scotch whisky tasting and had great fun discovering how much, or in some cases how little, we knew about Scotland with our brilliant Scottish quiz. We all had a wonderful time learning more about Robert Burns and the Scottish culture and traditions.
