Activities at Friston House Care Home

Our activity coordinators are constantly working to stimulate our residents both mentally and physically by organising group and individual activities for every one within the home to participate in. We have regular outings in our mini bus to various attractions within the area and in the summer we like to take our residents to the seaside, where they can enjoy fish and chips by the beach. Our activity programme is just one of the important aspects of the care home and we try our best to arrange the activities that our residents will enjoy.

Enriching life
Watch our video on life enrichment in our homes.

David Johnson

Head of Activities

I am David, I have been working at Friston House since December of 2023.

I have a background in the visitor attraction sector as an events and activities manager, working with families to create engaging, fun activities that result in long-lasting memories. It is my belief that care home activities should be just as fun, engaging, inclusive to all and worthwhile. Either as a group, self-led or on a one-to-one basis.

Life-encriching activities booklet

Read our brochure 'Life-enriching activities' for more information about life in our care homes.
Read our brochure

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 Friston House Care Home

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Summer BBQ

What a beautiful day we spent yesterday joined by our loved ones. We couldn’t have had more perfect weather for our Summer BBQ.

The team at Friston House are so happy that you were all able to join with us for our family day and can’t wait to see you again soon.

Through ticket purchases for our raffle to raise funds for Alzheimer's & Dementia Support Services we were able to donate over £240 to their incredible organisation.

Special mention, of course, to Rob T who entertained us in the garden as we sang along and filled our plates with some really delicious burgers,hot dogs and salads. (Our catering team delivering a full menu for the home AND the BBQ food we all enjoyed…..Superstars!).

Jigsaw Team Work

Three of our lovely residents Sylvia, Shirley & June worked together throughout the Spring on this devilishly difficult puzzle.

 

The team were all ready to celebrate the ladies team spirit and show admiration of their persistence to completing a puzzle that we would have given up on well before the end.

 

When that morning arrived, however, you can imagine the reaction of the team here at Friston House when we discovered there…. WAS A PIECE MISSING!!!

 

How might you have reacted???

 

We all agreed it probably would have been raining pieces of jigsaw in the lounge at such a discovery, as the table was flipped over in a fit of rage filled frustration……BUT

 

That’s not what happened in the lounge that morning…..In fact quite the opposite….the 3 friends each looked at each other, shrugged, smiled and it was Sylvia who stated…”well, these things happen”.

 

THAT was the moment we all realised what had REALLY taken place that month.

It was never about the jigsaw, the challenge or the floral image.

It was about the time spent together, friendships formed, laughter and shared silences enjoyed whilst pondering the placement of the next piece.

It was a brilliant display of patience and team spirit that was inspirational to witness….and the team here benefited from it hugely

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Match Box Drawings

PHILLUMENY - The hobby of collecting Matchboxes and Matchbooks

 

Our residents were discussing their passions and a couple of ladies in our group claimed to be Phillumenists (yes, we thought they were making it up too!)

 

But…..after a bit of googling we discovered that it’s a real thing and a vast and intriguing look into historic graphic design.

 

With beautiful designs from all over the world, many with truly fascinating back stories….you can see how easy it would be to get hooked on collecting these wonderful little packages.

 

So we got straight to work designing our own (of course we did, we are Friston House!) and making use of our colour therapy pages from our recent Mental Health Awareness Week, thought about how we could ‘shrink’ down our designs so they could be matchboxes.

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Theatre Visits the Home

Residents love a live theatre visit whether it be musical theatre or panto it always brings an afternoon of grins.

 

 

Visit to Tyland Barn

Our residents visited Tyland Barn Nature Park & Gardens in Sandling to see the variety of British flowers, plants and foliage, it is also a wildlife haven and in recent years they have bred kestrels.

Residents have been taking part in flower-based activities throughout the month including drawing and painting flowers in the garden, reminiscing about their gardens, virtual visits to famous gardens on YouTube, and a flower quiz which everyone really enjoyed.  Their collective knowledge about flowers gained from years of gardening experience was very impressive.

     

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Coaster Painting

Our residents had a lovely time recently getting stuck into some arts and crafts recently when we painted our own coasters.

Residents made some for both themselves and their families which they were really excited to give them, A lovely afternoon enjoyed by all.