Activities at Cookridge Court Care Home

Throughout the pandemic Cookridge Court have been wanting to keep strong relationships with local clubs out in the community. OPAL is a local community club close to Cookridge Court who very kindly invited the home to join their weekly coffee afternoon held each Friday and consists of various virtual activities that the residents and team can really engage in.

The residents have enjoyed engaging in an A to Z holiday reminisce session of different places around the world. Some of the homes residents had visited these places and were able to reminisce and speak about their experiences too. This was all done through Zoom and we cannot wait for our next session! 

As it was National fish & chip day, the activity team worked with the homes hospitality team to create the taste of real fish shop fish & chips. Instead of serving the fish & chips from the hot trolley’s they were pre-wrapped them so the residents who chose to have fish & chips could unwrap them to eat, which really created that realistic fish shop take out, throughout our lunchtime service.  

It was a different experience leading Residents to reminisce throughout the afternoon of fun times as families when they used to go out to the seaside.

Activity Coordinator, Laura Marshall said “I wanted to create the realistic feeling for our residents and it was lovely to see their faces while they were unwrapping them at lunchtime”, with Resident Joan saying “It was brilliant to have our fish & chips out of the fish shop paper. Even though they were homemade by our chef it really made them taste like the real, proper fish & chips”.

Residents of Cookridge Court launched their very own poetry club following feedback during their weekly activity meetings.

Following social distancing measures, the home held their inaugural session with Resident’s coming together to create a poem based on their lockdown experiences. The poetry group is a really good way for some residents to really express how they are really feeling.

Resident, Lauchlan Shearer’s used to be a professional Dart’s player in his younger days in Scotland. Following his recent move into the home, the activities team wanted to find an activity that was person centred to him – which was darts!

The home looked around for a dart board that would be safe for Lauchlan and the other residents to have a go at, but also looked realistic. They found one that was very safe to use so they could hold a Darts competition between staff & resident’s.

Overall the afternoon was such a success, you could see the enjoyment on the resident’s faces, the competition between everyone, and it was a special highlight of everyone’s day.

Residents and staff at Cookridge Court decided to hold a chair Balloon Tennis Tournament between each other.  It was a great mind & body stimulation for the homes residents who thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

With a little friendly competition between each other, residents became vocal with one another and worked as a team as they fought to beat the care team. Cookridge Court love creating magical moments like these, which for the homes resident’s they will now see Balloon Tennis Tournament included in the life enrichment programme.

Libby Harte Activity Assistant said “I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in this activity as it was lovely to see the team member’s and resident’s having so much fun. The whole afternoon was full of fun and laughter and the competition was high from both teams. Both team members & residents cannot wait for the next tournament”

Over the last few months during lockdown, Cookridge Court have been helping Resident keep in touch with their loved one’s using various different technology programmes from skype to Facetime to Zoom meetings. They have also been kept busy with their pen-pal scheme writing postcards to their family and friends just to let them know that they are 'thinking of them'. It is always nice to receive something hand written through the post!   It has been a lovely experience for all as it has lead to a lot of reminiscence sharing stories of their friendships over the years.