Activities at Hafan-Y-Coed 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.
Marie Spires
I'm Marie, the lead activities coordinator for Hafan Y Coed. I have been the activities coordinator for nearly three years and am passionate about encouraging the wellbeing of our residents. Ensuring all abilities are catered for in a bespoke schedule is paramount to their individual wellbeing needs. I am joined by Clare and Sue who also help to create a life enrichment program suitable for all communities.
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 Hafan-Y-Coed Care Home
A very special Easter surprise
The home was filled with joy, laughter, and a touch of magic as we welcomed a very special guest — the Easter Bunny! Residents were delighted to see the Easter Bunny hopping down the halls, spreading smiles and plenty of cheer.
Everyone got involved in the fun — The home was filled with laughter as the Bunny made their rounds, handing out goodies and posing for some egg-cellent photos.
The festive decorations, cheerful Karaoke, over a glass of bubbly, and lovely spring atmosphere brought a wonderful sense of togetherness and celebration.
Week of fun and varied activities
This week, we paid a cheerful visit to the garden centre to pick up some new bedding plants for the garden. Our residents love getting involved in outdoor activities, and the fresh blooms are a beautiful addition to our space.
Arts and crafts have also been in full swing, with residents creating colourful flower plates that now brighten up our communities. As always, we’ve kept moving with our regular music and movement sessions, exercise classes, and, of course, karaoke!
We also celebrated St George’s Day with a fun and engaging quiz, and yesterday we tuned into a relaxing live-stream tea tasting session by clipped tea.
National Jelly Bean Day brought some sweet fun with cupcake decorating, which turned out to be a wonderful sensory activity.
A day of sunshine, nature and creativity
Today, residents enjoyed a delightful minibus outing to the Wetland Centre, where they had the chance to see a wide variety of birds and ducks — with the flamingos being a particular favourite!
Back at the home, some of our residents soaked up the glorious sunshine while enjoying music in the garden, creating a relaxing and joyful atmosphere.
Merlys said “It was such a beautiful day, spent in the sunshine with a lovely group of people.”
Meanwhile, some families and residents took part in a special keepsake experience, designing beautiful silver jewellery capturing the imprints of their loved ones — a truly meaningful and memorable day.
Cardiff Minibus Trip to History Museum
This month we were invited to Cardiff museum to take part in a felt art-making class as part of the amgueddfa cymru project.
We arrived nice and early, so we decided to enjoy our picnic near a scenic lake which the residents said was very relaxing and peaceful. When we arrived, we were taken to a calm art room with other members of the community, to carry out the felt-making activity. After our artistic wellbeing needs had been met, we ventured round the museum, taking in the history. Residents particularly enjoyed visiting the coffee shop for a hot drink and chocolate brownie! They were delicious!
Val said “I can’t thank you enough for such a wonderful day. It was so interesting looking round the museum and I learnt so much. It was good fun to have a go at the felt-making class too. I did have help but was very pleased with my final creation.”
Mother's Day Vintage Tea
Our Mother’s Day celebrations were enjoyed on all of our communities, with plenty of colourful decorations and flowers on display. The day saw plenty of family fun with smiling happy memories made on this traditional annual event.
Families were invited to spend the afternoon with loved ones and shared an afternoon vintage tea with our finest tea cups and devoured a wonderful selection of homemade snacks prepared by our talented new chef, Chris.
Whilst residents sipped on prosecco or tea, male vocalist Mike Jordan sang an eclectic mix of well-known classic songs which either had everyone dancing or singing along.
Jean’s daughter commented “another lovely day put on by the activities team. My Mother thoroughly enjoyed the day and I feel lucky to have spent the day together.”
Holistic day to relax and unwind
Some of our ladies enjoyed a holistic day which saw one of our activities team demonstrate ‘how to look after your skin’ with a step-by-step guided facial routine. The ladies sampled the products and enjoyed the environment of our new refurbished relaxation room.
While the demonstration was taking place, the aroma of the aromatherapy smells filled the room, while relaxing spa music was played. One lady said “I could just drift off and go to sleep after that session. I feel totally relaxed”. Another said how lovely her skin felt after sampling the products.
During the session, residents asked questions and said how they’d all learnt something new that they would try themselves.
