Activities at Balclutha Court Care Home
At Balclutha Court our resident’s happiness is extremely important to us. We all know that a large part of this is keeping active and continuing to enjoy your interests and hobbies. At Balclutha Court, we have regular activities including arts and crafts, music, entertainment, trips to local attractions such as canal trips, safari parks and many more. Our activities team are always busy organising events, entertainment and excursions with the broadest possible appeal and many of our residents see living at Balclutha Court as an opportunity to develop a new skill or interest. It is important to us that each individual who we support can get as much from these as possible, so we try our best to arrange activities that reflect their interests and capabilities as best as possible, and encourage them to participate in any way they can. We also encourage relatives to join with activities and events as often as they can.
Karen Dillon
Karen Dillon is our Head of Activities and has worked within the home since 2005, starting out as a Carer. Karen is very outgoing and full of fun. She has many hobbies, with arts & crafts being her favourite, and her passion for this can be seen in our life enrichment programme.
Karen is supported by Kay Millar and Anita Marsh, between them they ensure that residents are happy and have loads of fun.
They are very keen to involve the residents in the decision making within the home to enhance their experience. They take part in the residents' meetings, catering forums and assist the General Manager in interviewing new staff members.
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 Balclutha Court Care Home
Valentine's Day
We had a great time celebrating Valentine’s Day here at Balclutha. We enjoyed some fantastic live entertainment from one of our favourite entertainers Michael Patterson. Michael managed to get us all singing along and some even managed a wee dance. Our fabulous kitchen team made us a tasty spread and we had a wee refreshment of our choice. The lovely Janette even honoured us with solo as Michael brought round the microphone. Lovely afternoon had by all.
Valentine's virtual event
Across our homes we had a fantastic time joining, Kathryn Delve, Master Florist, for a Valentine’s-inspired live virtual flower arranging demonstration. Kathryn shared brilliant and creative ways to decorate our tables with beautiful flowers that are sure to make your heart swoon!
Those participating in this virtual event put their skills to the test and followed along with some amazing creations of their own. Residents truly enjoyed the experience.
Medical Detection Dogs
Across our services residents had a fantastic time during a special live virtual event, led by Emilia from Medical Detection Dogs. Emilia took us on a journey to discover how the organisation began training dogs to support people with complex health conditions, saving their lives on a daily basis.
Using their amazing sense of smell, these dogs can identify odour changes emitted prior an episode and alert the person to take preventative action.
We were introduced to the wonderful dogs and the science behind the sniff. It was a delightful experience for everyone, especially our canine-loving residents.
Big Quiz of the Year
All over the country our care homes and hospitals linked up for Barchester’s Big Quiz of the year!
Residents tested their knowledge with a variety of questions, from historical humdingers and musical musings to pictorial puzzlers and connective conundrums.
Everyone who participated had a fantastic time and enjoyed some friendly competition.
Decorating the home
Decorating the home at Christmas is a very special time here at Balclutha. It’s not just one person’s job nor is it one teams reasonability. Decorating the home is something that everyone gets involved in, residents, staff and even visitors! Fiona in particular really enjoyed helping building the trees while betty played Christmas carols on her organ. We just love this time of year.
Nativity
We were so happy and honoured to visit our wee Balclutha Bairns at the Bluebird nursery to see their nativity play. We had so much fun watching our little friends in all their glory on stage. Jackie was over the moon when his wee pal Owen noticed him in the audience and then came down to see him after his performance.
