Activities at Cheshire Grange Care Home

There was eager anticipation in the air, as residents began to get quite excited about the debut performance of local boy band Crossroads!!!!! The band, made up of friends George and Trevor, bill themselves as the oldest boy band in Warrington!!!

The gents arrived with their roadies aka their wives and whispers went round that THEY were here…. Building the levels of curiosity and excitement…

Well, what a show, a great mix of music that got residents singing, clapping, waving their arms and seeing the activities team gasping for breath (we aren’t getting any younger either!) 

There was so much joy and laughter with Georges' witty repartee and the comic interaction between the gents, the residents were won over by their charm and talent and all wanted to know when they would be back.

Our lovely Peggy marked a milestone at her105th birthday party with a tea party for her family and residents. The room was decorated with more than 250 birthday cards from well-wishers across the UK. Councillor Mo Hussain, Mayor of Warrington, also attended and shared a slice of birthday cake with her.

Peggy said: "How can I be 105 when I feel like I’m 21? I’ll be too excited to sleep tonight."

Born in Tingley, West Yorkshire, in 1920 during the reign of King George V, Peggy served in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAF) during the Second World War. She qualified as an officer and was put in charge of catering. During her service, she met her husband Eric, a rear gunner in the RAF. The couple later moved to Wiltshire, where Peggy spent most of her time at home and occasionally taught.

Peggy is an inspiration to us all, she always has an interesting tale to share and a twinkle in her eye, We look forward to hearing many more.

We recently hosted an intergenerational creative project for residents and pupils from Lymm High School. The event took place on Monday 14th July and welcomed pupils from the local high school to enjoy an ocean-themed creative session.
This has been an annual event, seeing pupils visit in the last week of the summer term. This year the Ocean theme was chosen as the visit coincided with Shark Awareness Day.

Residents and pupils worked together to create collages of coral reefs with sea life swimming through them. There was an extra special treat for resident Iris as her great-granddaughter, Chloe, was one of our visitors. Chloe worked on one of the pieces with her Great Grandma in her room, which delighted Iris and her family when learning about this special moment.

The next day, Chloe was chosen to speak in St Marys Church at a Founders Day service about her visit to Cheshire Grange and how important it had been for herself, her Grandma and other family members.   

Alpacas are herd animals and like the company of others, including llamas, goats, and very evidently residents at Cheshire Grange!

The Alpacas, from Woodlands Alpaca Farm, except for Bruce who was sulking that day, loved getting to know the ladies and gents, residents, families and staff were very happy to spend time indulging the special guests who enjoyed all the fuss.

It was amazing watching everyone's reactions to the visiting alpacas, many residents loving the feel of their coats, others laughing at their strange little noises, the overall opinion was how cute they were.

However, and this highlights one of the many benefits of animal therapy, a resident who had been a farmer all their life was back at a livestock sale, weighing up the benefits of adding an alpaca to their stock, how much they were willing to bid up to and seeing which one looked the best as they were walked round...

Staff, residents and relatives came together at Cheshire Grange Care Home in Lymm to enjoy a fun filled Alice in Wonderland Fun Day.

The Queen of Hearts, aka Dawn Holsgrove-Smith, General Manager, presided over the event keeping her court in order as The Mad Hatter, White Rabbit, The Cheshire Cat & Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum got everyone in the spirit playing games, including croquet on the lawn.

The event was staged to welcome the cyclists taking part in the fundraising Tour De Barchester. On the final day of their gruelling 225-mile ride supporting The Barchester Foundation, the Tour stopped to join the Tea Party, enjoying The Mad Hatters' refreshments!

Our local rugby team, Warrington Wolves, were on the road to Wembley to compete in the Challenge Cup Final and the club mascot paid us a visit to thank us for our support.

The spirit of the Challenge Cup Final was in full swing! The entire home was decked out in wire colours from top to bottom, and the passion was truly infectious ahead of the big game at Wembley! Amongst our residents there were two truly remarkable individuals who had more reason than most to cheer on the Primrose and Blue…

Olive, whose grandfather-in-law was none other than Alf Boardman – a Wire legend who made history as the first Warrington player to reach 400 appearances. Alf played in the club’s very first four Challenge Cup finals, earned an England cap in 1905, and lifted the cup twice. A Hall of Famer, a trailblazer, and a forward who gave his all for the Wire. 

And Graham Welborn, former Mayor of Warrington and lifelong Wire fan, who shared memories, stories, and some true Wire pride with Wolfie and the team. It was a day full of heritage, heart, and history. Thank you, Wolfie and your team, for finding the time to say hello and bringing lots of joy to our residents.

This quote from Anne Frank's Diary serves to emphasise the importance of radio, especially in the bleak times of the war. This made the visit from 'Cheshire Mix 56' more poignant when they came to interview residents for a show looking at memories of VE Day and putting the world back together again.

Residents enjoyed sharing their memories with Ian from the station, especially Peggy, who will be celebrating her 105th birthday in June this year! She recounted being in the bath when Winston Churchill spoke on the radio about the end of the war in Europe!

We get lots of visitors at Cheshire Grange, but they don’t always turn up with nets of hay and in their own pens!

Kimzy from Mobile Farm, Cheshire, brought along her friends, Henry and Shaun the Black Nose Valais Sheep, Dave & Sidney the baby goats, Floppsy a French Lop Eared Rabbit and a pair of 3-week-old chicks.

Residents, staff and visitors were able to handle these beautiful animals and got to know a little bit more about their lives. 

We had many celebrations over the week for VE Day, including singers, creative projects, poems and reminiscences. A very poignant part of our celebrations were the Hopes For Peace messages.

Lymm Parish Council invited us, along with other community groups, to share a ‘Message of Hope’, encouraging the local community to reflect on the importance of peace.

Cheshire Grange residents wrote their messages on brown tags similar to those worn by evacuees. These were then displayed in the Village Hall as part of the community celebrations.

We took these messages and duplicated them for our own sentiment tree in our reception area, where visitors could read and reflect on thoughts such as ‘My happiest memory was seeing the street lights coming on and peace and quiet from the sirens.', 'With peace, we can live without fear of violence and discrimination’ and ‘It's so important for a community to have hope, peace and unity to bring each other together and have support’.