Activities at Braeburn Lodge Care Home

On this special day, we took some time out to celebrate Candlemas with some of our wonderful residents. Candlemas is known as the festival of light. It is celebrated on 2nd February to honour light warding off evil and death and assuring prosperity. Christians take candles to be blessed in church, while for those with a sweet tooth, this day is also a chance to eat sweet delights such as pancakes!

Our residents enjoyed the morning by reading about the history of this day, as well as watching a pre-recorded Candlemas church service, from The Church of England website. Residents from all four communities within our home joined us for this spiritual event, making it even more special. The prayers and hymns sang during this activity was enjoyed by all.

Across the country our homes and hospitals came together to find out which care home or hospital had the best Bingo players as we teamed up for Barchester’s Bingo Bonanza.

Residents were treated to some exciting virtual games of Bingo as part of Barchester’ very own game show series.

Everyone who participate had a fantastic time and enjoyed some friendly competition.

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.

Reading aloud, whether to someone else or even to oneself, activates the frontal cortex and may have a role in helping to rehabilitate the cognitive functions of residents. Although many of them find it difficult in reading on their own, often due to reduced vision or chronic health concerns.

Today, it was a first for our lovely Nursing community. We created personalised bookmarks and selected a book each before sitting down to read with them. We tried to select novels or books that we thought may be of interest, some of which were selected based on the past careers of our wonderful residents. It was so wonderful to see the faces on our residents during this activity and we look forward to running a regular book club in the future.

Did you know that there is a National Bittersweet Chocolate Day? This is a national celebration of one of life's most delicious delights: chocolate with an edge! As part of this celebration the activities team invested in a chocolate fountain to treat all wonderful residents and staff members.

The morning was spent trying different kinds of fruits and snacks with the melted chocolate. It was a perfect opportunity for our residents to bond, engage in the conversation regarding the history of chocolate and trying out a new appliance, which some of them had never ever seen before. Overall, it was successful “chocolate” filled event.

At Braeburn Lodge Care Home, we always try our very best to accommodate our resident’s needs. On this occasion we took some of our wonderful residents from our Memory Lane community on a lovely countryside ride in Lincolnshire. The weather was not the best, although our residents had an adventurous time, pointing out to all the floods around town.

Sometimes it is not possible to plan big events around our residents due to various reasons. However, we will always try to include them in some form of daily activity. Our mini outings have become quite a popular event in our home, especially with our Memory Lane residents. We always take a little picnic and make sure we park up, have a good chat, and indulge on some hot chocolate and treats.