Activities at Challoner House Care Home

The residents, relatives and staff had a fantastic afternoon celebrating His Royal Highness King Charles' official Birthday. We held a amazing Garden Party with live entertainment from Sarah Hobbs, a selection of beverages from our hydration trolley (the Pimm’s went down a treat) and a vast selection of cakes and nibbles. 

We had dancing, singing and a lot of giggles. It was not the sunniest of afternoons, but we made the most of the warm weather. We finished the afternoon off with a group sing along to God Save our King.      

On Thursday Challoner House welcomed the team from Costco Southampton Costco  to come along and talk to  our staff and visitors about the benefits and options of the Costco Membership. The ladies came along with a selection of their current offers and some lovely treats for us to taste. 
The ladies from Costco emailed in the following day to thank us for our hospitality and to say thank you for making them feel very welcome.

We had a fantastic time celebrating World Cocktail Day on Wednesday with a fun cocktail and mocktail tasting session! 
Residents enjoyed getting involved, tasting drinks and sampling a variety of cocktails and mocktails. 

The residents were joined by our Senior General Manager Sarah Hayman, Clinical Deputy Manager Gemma and our Senior Nurse, Rose, who came along and enjoyed a Mocktail and was talking to the residents about how important it is to stay hydrated and about nutrition. We all had a good discussion about different food and drinks we can enjoy and stay healthy. 

At Challoner House, we have a fantastic nursing team that are always on hand to offer advice about your loved one's care and nursing needs.    

The residents, relatives and staff at Challoner House had a lovely Easter Bank Holiday weekend, celebrating with a lovely Easter Lunch followed by Hot Cross Buns. We had staff dressed in Easter clothing and accessories which were shared amongst the residents, and we had a surprise visit from the Easter Bunny, who kindly gave each resident an Easter treat. 

Throughout the bank holiday weekend, we were able to enjoy some Easter-themed activities, including our homemade Easter selfie station where which the residents helped to plant springtime flowers around the base. We also held an Easter competition to win an eggcellent Easter Hamper. Residents and relatives have said how much they enjoyed all the celebrations that we had arranged throughout the home.          

On the 4th February, the residents enjoyed joining World Read Aloud Day. We had a lovely afternoon sharing short stories, poetry and limericks as well as reminiscing about childhood stories we all loved and shared with our own children and grandchildren. World Read Aloud Day is celebrated on the first Wednesday in February and takes place on February 4 this year. 

This is a day dedicated not just to reading, but to the art and practice of reading aloud. Stories were passed down from generation to generation even before writing was invented. Oral forms of storytelling were the earliest way of preserving human knowledge, insight, and creativity. This day helps us bring this tradition back to reading while promoting literacy.     

The residents at Challoner enjoyed talking about different fruits whilst watching a demonstration on smoothie making by Vicky. Using some of our favourite fruits and a touch of cream and whole milk, we made some lovely blends of rich creamy.

We had the Berry Blast, which had a combination of strawberries and blueberries, The Mango Madness, which was pure mango and the Monkey Mocka, which was banana and chocolate. With some forward planning, we were able to make some dairy-free options using oat milk. On a hot day like today, hydration is of upmost importance and little treats like this go a long way to increase hydration and nutrition.  

The residents and staff are so happy to have received our New Magic Table, The Magic Table has been gifted to our home from The Barchester Dementia Team for us to use with all our residents. The Magic Table is a fantastic piece of equipment which resembles a Giant Android Tablet, It has a 43" Screen and is height and angle adjustable to suit all abilities especially those residents that are nursed in bed and not able to join in with group activities, The Table functions just like a handheld device where we are able to download residents favourite games, Google Earth, You Tube and TV streaming channels like BBC iPlayer . If you would like a demonstration of our amazing new gadget please see our Activity Coordinator Vicky, she would be more than happy to show you how it can benefit our residents.

Today we celebrated our lovely resident Eileen's birthday. When Eileen was asked what she would like for her birthday, all she asked for was an M&S cheese scone, but we went one better and took Eileen to M&S for a little retail therapy, which included stopping off in the café for a cheese scone and a pot of tea, we ended the trip by popping in at the food hall to buy more cheese scones to bring home. 

Eileen said 'I could not have asked for a better birthday afternoon, it was so lovely going out for my favourite treat'. At Challoner House we try and make our residents' wishes come true, no matter how big or small, birthday or just a normal day, every little thing matters at Challoner House. 

At Challoner House we celebrated St Patrick’s Day in true Irish style. Residents listened to traditional Irish music and tried out some Irish dances. 

And everyone enjoyed a fantastic feast of Irish dishes made by our wonderful, talented Head Chef Weronika, all washed down with Guinness, Murphy’s, Baileys or Irish whisky. 

The Head of Activities joined in dressing up as an Irish Leprechaun alongside care staff wearing accessories in their hair. 

A brilliant time was had by all. All the residents, especially our two Irish residents, Mike and Catherine, said they had a lovely themed lunch and loved listening to the Irish Pub Classics. It brought back many happy memories.     

Challoner House were so delighted to be able to help Ken celebrate his landmark birthday. Our team worked alongside Ken and his family to help plan his big day, to make it special by putting on activities of Ken's choice. He also had a special cake designed for the occasion, and we decorated our large lounge and Kens room with banners and balloons and, with Kens permission, we sent his story to our local newspaper. 

Ken was so overjoyed by all the celebration that took place he was so proud to be able to stand and give his speech and spend his big day with all his friends and family.       

The residents and staff at Challoner House had a great afternoon celebrating Royal Ascot Ladies Day. We all dressed in our best attire, including beautiful headwear, and had our own day at the races. 

We had a fun afternoon betting on a virtual Derby game whilst sipping Bucks Fizz and Cava. The residents said it was just like being at the races.  

Challoner House in Chandlers Ford got active for Senior Health and Fitness Day, which took place on May 27th. Residents, relatives, staff and members of the local community participated in our morning session of Move it or Lose it Exercise Class led by our Activity Coordinator, Vicky. Vicky has been running our classes for over 8 years and has adapted them to suit a range of abilities. To make this session more fun, Vicky became our very own Mrs Motivator and ran an 80’s-inspired class. The residents also enjoyed more physical activities throughout the day, including Target games and Skittles.

Created to inspire senior-friendly physical activity, the national day was launched to increase awareness of the importance of remaining active to maintain strong, healthy joints and muscles, and to encourage diet and lifestyle changes for an overall improvement in wellbeing, and illness prevention.  

Celebrations were in full swing at Challoner House to celebrate our patron, Saint George. 

The home was decorated with the St Georges Flag and the residents, families and staff were treated to a fantastic sing-along by visiting entertainer Charlotte Millichamp, followed by a traditional English meal and afternoon activities of old traditional games and a themed St Georges Day Quiz. We all had such a wonderful day of music and memories, and it was enjoyed by all. 

This afternoon, Challoner House held an informative talk given by senior dietician Caroline Francis. Caroline came in to give a presentation about how to heat well and stay hydrated in her later years. The residents found the talk fascinating and were able to ask loads of questions about food varieties and quantities. 

They were able to look at and discuss the Eatwell Guide to learn portion control and discuss different levels of dietary requirements. It was a fun learning afternoon enjoyed by all.      

The residents, relatives and local community members were treated to a fun pantomime performance of Cinderella. Challoner House welcomed the company Tickled Pink Productions to come along and entertain us all with an hour-long show of theatre, singing and funny jokes throughout. They had us all laughing. Challoner House loves to put on a pantomime at the start of every year that we would love to share with everyone.