Activities at Elm Bank Care Home

This year, we celebrated all of our lovely mothers on Mothering Sunday across all communities with a Mother’s Day tea party, a chat and poetry readings with our activities team.

Elm Bank’s Head Chef, Harry, and his wonderful kitchen team made over 100 pancakes with 10 different toppings for residents in all communities within our home. General Manager, Jessica, had a go at flipping some, too. Harry had six frying pans cooking at the same time - that is the sign of a flippin' good chef!

We are creating fun, themed areas throughout Elm Bank and residents are helping to come up with creative ideas. Here is our Garden Wall area providing visual stimulation, reminiscence and conversation for residents with dementia in our Memory Lane community.

Lockdown didn’t stop us from spreading love on Valentine’s Day. We enjoyed a day filled with love-inspired meals, baking some beautiful cakes, sipping a glass of wine and talking about ‘days of love’ with those who have passed away but remain in our hearts. And we shared the love with Kettering General Hospital, delivering a hamper of chocolates, cards and poems written by residents.

We recently received an incredible piece of technology which projects images onto a flat surface, giving visual stimulation and opportunities to play sensory games. Our Magic Table is designed to increase happiness in people with dementia and we are already seeing wonderful engagement and enjoyment from many residents, and reduced anxiety.

Jessica Pateman, General Manager at Elm Bank, has become the youngest registered Care Home Manager in England at the impressive age of 22 years and eight months, following an interview with the CQC. Jessica has already overseen new Covid testing, vaccination and family visit processes. She has introduced new ways of keeping in touch with residents’ families and the wider community, and she is studying for an NVQ5 in Leadership. Lorna Rose, Managing Director (Central Division) said, “Jessica really deserves this new role and recognition of her hard work and total commitment to providing the best care, lifestyle and activities programme for residents. She gained experience in several Barchester homes and we have always been impressed by her attention to detail, professionalism and ability to get to know people quickly. Nothing seems to faze her and we are delighted and proud that she is working at Elm Bank.”