Activities at Challoner House Care Home

The residents at Challoner House love to play games, especially on an easy, relaxing Sunday Morning. Every Sunday we set up the games ready for some competitive fun. 

Our games range from Dominos, Cards, Memory, and an assortment of traditional board games.

At Challoner House, we like to make every birthday special, so when we found out our lovely resident, Catherine, was about to turn 109 years of age, we decided we needed to go all out to make her day as special as she is. We got together with Catherine and asked her how she would like to spend her special day, and she asked to be able to visit a garden centre for coffee, cake and some retail therapy, followed by a birthday party with her fellow residents and family. 

Catherine had a lovely day. She told us she had never really had a birthday party, and she felt so special and celebrated by all.

As part of getting Barchester Moving Week, the residents enjoyed a week of fun physical games and a visit from Rise Sports to teach us to play seated cricket. 

The residents really enjoyed the chance to get physical and have fun at the same time. They really enjoyed the cricket as it was quite competitive, and we had our resident Ken winning man of the match. 

We marked 80 years since Victory in Europe Day – a day to remember, reflect and celebrate.

Our VE Day celebrations brought the community together in the spirit of gratitude, remembrance and unity. From heartfelt tributes to our veterans, to music, bunting, quizzes and shared stories, the day was a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made and the peace won.

This week the Challoner Mini Bus headed out to one of our favourite destinations, the delicious Carlos Ices & Tearooms. Our residents recently played a mystery game with the winner being able to choose this week's adventure. 

Carlo's has always been a top favourite as it is a beautiful scenic journey with a lady treat on arrival. On this visit we got to choose from vanilla, strawberry, coffee, coconut or banana. Every week we go out on a new adventure with the residents choosing where they would like to visit. Mini-Bus Outings are so important for our mind, body and soul. 

Challoner House celebrated VE Day with two days of celebrations. We decorated the home with flags and banners, then we started off with a morning of wartime sing along with one of our favourite entertainers, Amanda Parsons, followed the next day by an indoor street party where the staff and residents dressed up in patriotic colours and costumes which were fitting for the occasion. 

Family and friends joined us for the celebrations, and we had a resident read a section of Winston Churchill's famous speech that was given on VE Day 80 years ago. Everyone had a wonderful time celebrating and enjoyed delicious home-made cakes and scones made by our head chef.  

The residents at Challoner House decided they wanted today's 'move it or lose it' exercise class to be held outside on our sunny patio. 

As the temperature was extremely warm, we kept the class simple and had some relaxing music to move along with. At the end of our session, we all cooled down with some refreshing fruity drinks. We hold our exercise classes weekly as it helps with our mobility, dexterity and mindfulness.

This weekend we had some lovely sunshine over the Challoner House Gardens, so one of our residents, Margaret, requested to go and see the flowers as it was the start of Spring. 

Margaret was wrapped up snug and taken for a lovely peaceful walk around the beautiful grounds at Challoner House. 

We were really pleased to see some coccus, daffodils and primroses already in bloom, along with the camelia bush already showing some lovely buds. 

This week we treated our gentleman residents to a trip to the pub. The men chose the lovely Pub, The White Swan at Mansbridge in Southampton, to enjoy a nice pint by the fire. 

The White Swan is a lovely pub along the river, so we were also able to see the swans and moorhens swimming past as well as the friendly pub dog who came to join us at the table. It was a lovely afternoon listening to the men talking about the old days and how much the pubs have changed over the years. 

This week Challoner House was welcomed back to the Beacon Café held at St Boniface Church, Chandlers Ford. The Beacon Café is open to the local community to get together over a hot beverage and delicious homemade cake. You also have the opportunity to attend a craft session. 

It really is a wonderful way to get to know new members of our community in a relaxed environment. If you would like to come along, please see the poster with all the information about the café attached. 

Challoner House tries and pops along twice a month as it is great for our residents to get out and about. The residents enjoy going along and seeing what yummy cakes they are serving, as there is always a different variety. 

This month, Challoner House welcomed Brittany Chalk in to hold an armchair Ballet session with our residents. Brittany is a fully qualified ballet instructor that offers armchair ballet sessions in care homes. 

At Challoner House we have a resident who was a qualified ballet teacher as well as being a professional dancer, so we thought we would grab the opportunity for her to continue to do ballet in a relaxing way that suites our residents' mobility. 

Exercise is really good for aiding everyone’s wellbeing and mobility. The residents really enjoyed this session, and we look forward to welcoming Brittany back very soon. 

The residents at Challoner House love a good word game and the favourite to play is always Giant Team Scrabble. Each week the residents ask to play the competitive word-based game, and they just get better and better each week. 

To play our team games, we split into two teams and play the game against each other. Scrabble is a really good game to get our minds working. We find new words each week and enjoy looking up the definitions in the dictionary. 

At Challoner House, our residents love nothing more than wrapping up and getting out and about. This year we have been treated to a brand new shiny minibus so we have taken every opportunity to show it off in the community. 

The residents chose some of their favourite places to visit and stop off for coffee and cake. These places include garden centres and church community coffee stops. We look forward to the warmer weather when we can start venturing further afield to the beach. 

Over the festive period, the residents at Challoner House were so pleased to welcome the local Chandlers Ford Brownies to spend the evening playing games and singing for us. 

The Brownies brought with them their own version of festive bingo and gifts of Hyacinths in vases and Christmas cards for all residents at our home. It was a lovely intergenerational activity session that we wish to continue to host going forward. 

The residents at Challoner House are pleased to welcome our new home hairdresser Paula. 

Paula joined us at the end of December 2024 and the residents just adore her. She comes with years of experience of working as a hairdresser in Care Homes and is always so happy and smiley when in the home.

Paula is in the home every Wednesday. She has an appointment system and really takes her time with our residents.