Activities at Cumberland Grange Care Home
We understand that the people we support have passions and interests that could be difficult to pursue after moving into a care home – but that doesn’t mean we don’t encourage them to try! Some hobbies can define a person, so our Activities Coordinators are dedicated to ensuring that everyone we support is able to do what makes them happy to the best of their abilities. Social events are organised with individual tastes in mind and with the idea that residents have the opportunity to try new and exciting things.
Gosia Andrews
Hello, my name is Gosia and I am the Activities Co-Ordinator here at Cumberland Grange.
I have been in the care sector since 2008, and I also have a degree in teaching. I am here to arrange and run a varied Life Enrichment Programme which is full of fun activities for our residents to take part in. We do lots of different activities here which change on a regular basis, including weekly trips out in our mini bus, flower arranging, live musical performances, arts and crafts, cheese and wine nights and so much more. We also have groups which happen every week, mostly lead by our residents, including Poetry Club, Gardening Club, Politics and Pastries, Cumberland Grange Choir and Knit and Natter.
We have monthly resident meetings where we discuss life at Cumberland Grange. We talk about the activities that we currently run, including activities that our residents would like us to incorporate into the planner.
Making wishes come true is also something that we love to do. So, if our resident has a wish, together we try our best to make that happen, because life at Cumberland is about having fun and making even more special memories.
Activities and Events Partnerships
As part of our bespoke life-enrichment programmes, we host a number of live virtual events in the home on a regular basis through a number of partnerships with places of interest and world class performance companies
Life at Cumberland Grange Care Home
When Oscar came to visit....
Look who popped in to say hello to some of our residents, the wonderful Oscar, who visited Cumberland Grange, along with mum Melissa who is a Care Assistant here.
Sometimes visiting new places and unfamiliar environments can be a bit of a challenge to young children, however Oscar was an absolute star and really enjoyed being with our residents and absolutely loved all of the attention!
Anyone for Indoor Sports?
As Wimbledon fortnight begins and the raindrops start falling, like all the players competing in SW19, we also have been forced indoors to undertake our sporting activities.
After a lunchtime barbecue, a few games of indoor tennis and badminton were just what was needed to get everyone’s energy levels up again, followed by some freshly baked lemon drizzle cake for afternoon tea.
Well done Team Cumberland!
We are super proud of staff members Bob & Chris who joined the Tour de Barchester peloton on the first day of this year’s event, as they started off on their 276 miles journey from Exeter to Purley
To show our appreciation for their effort and support for Barchester’s Charitable Foundation event, they were presented with a commemorative medal and water bottle holder.
Well done Team Cumberland!
Reaping the Benefits of our Gardening Club
Being outdoors in the fresh air when the weather is this glorious, is such as simple pleasure and our weekly gardening club allows residents to be involved as much, or as little as they please.
Whilst some people are fairly active and get involved in potting, digging our raised beds, planting and pruning, others simply enjoy being outdoors and watching what’s going on in our lovely sheltered garden.
This week it was time for planting out some more of our seed grown fruit and veggie plants, to add alongside our sweet tasting strawberries and courgette plants which are flowering nicely.
Picnic with Ottery St Mary Scout Group
Taking advantage of the glorious sunshine we’ve been experiencing this week we welcomed members from Ottery St Mary Scout Group who joined us all for a picnic tea, as a fantastic way of continuing to bridge the gap between the older and younger generations
Our residents were really interested to learn about everything that the group do at Scouts, and particularly about all of the badges they proudly displayed on their uniforms. All of the scouts spent time with our residents individually, explaining what they needed to do to achieve these awards, and it seems that some of the more traditional badges haven’t changed much since a couple of residents were Scouts themselves!
The enjoyment and interaction shown by everyone was fantastic and we hope to welcome the scout group back into our home again very soon.
Viv is a winner in the nationwide #BarchesterPets Competition!
Congratulations to our wonderful resident Viv on being selected as one of the winners in this year’s #BarchesterPets competition, a nationwide event where residents in care homes up and down the country competed for the chance of winning the prize of a £100 gift voucher.
Residents were asked to put on their creative hats and write a story or a poem about a favourite pet as part of a reminiscence session. Viv wrote her original story, based on memories and memorable experiences that she shared with her dog, called Baron, and it certainly sounds as if they had the most remarkable relationship.
Viv was absolutely thrilled that her story had been chosen as a winner and quite rightly so! With 250 care homes in the Barchester portfolio across the country and a large number of entries for this competition, her win is even more special to everyone here at Cumberland Grange!
Well done Viv – we are all so thrilled for you with your win and for continuing to be a real inspiration to us all with your wonderful stories and poetry.
