Activities at Harton 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.
Marius Sidoriuc
Hi, my name is Marius, I am the activities coordinator here at Harton Grange. I joined Barchester's family in 2021, as I found their approach and standards on dementia very interesting. Since early 2022 I work for Barchester as both activities coordinator and care assistant. In 2018, I started my journey in health and social care as a care assistant and very soon after, I completed courses on dementia and activities (NAPA, level 2) and I worked as both activities coordinator and care assistant in Kent. I'm also an apprentice in health and social care. I've met some amazing people that have guided my understanding of dementia.
The most important thing for me is to see our residents achieving a meaningful raison d'etre, living as they like and to benefit from a range of activities starting from Namaste to reminiscing and spiritual needs (such as praying or listening to hymns), art and craft, armchair exercises, music therapy or finger nail pamper sessions.
I like to acknowledge that I am working as a part of a whole team, including the fantastic management, hospitality and maintenance departments, promoting a person centred approach for each resident and we are glad to know each persons preferences and abilities in order to plan how the day will look with them. One way we are able to do this is through our residents' and family' meetings where we try to let everyone have their say about the way they want to live and the activities they take part in.
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 Harton Grange Care Home
The heart of a child
Inside every adult is the heart of a child. This is so true, and we have the duty to protect this heart and to let it to express itself freely. It was so great to play with a little toy car together with Anne and Audrey.... yes, indeed we went back to those very happy times.
Later on, when I visited Edna and Vera, the same heart of a child can be seen through their smiles: they are enjoying the little dogs so much.
A visit to 'The Word'
We have had a great afternoon visiting "The Word", The National Centre of Written Word in South Shields.
After we experienced the "Sound pit" installation, we relaxed with a cup of tea and a wonderful view of the riverside and the books in this wonderful Centre of Written Word. We had such a bright afternoon.
Back to simplicity, back to nature!
Nature can bring so much tranquility, even if just from watching video clips. To hear a robin chirping, sometimes, is all we need to relax and to let our mind be free of worries.
Jean and Thomasina were so fascinated by the birds singing, and Averil and Olga couldn't stop smiling.
Even Thomasina’s dogs watched the birds on our digital Rainbow.
Royal Parks London
Across our services our residents have enjoyed a wonderful live virtual talk about starlings, one of the UK’s most gregarious birds, hosted by Rachel Dowse from The Royal Parks London.
Rachel examined our long history with this bird and the importance of common species to our lives. Our residents had the opportunity to find out more about the great murmuration and why we need to pay special attention to these beauties before it's too late.
The virtual experience was truly enjoyed by all.
A Wintery trip to the sea.
After a few days with so much fog and temperatures below freezing point, we decided to go out and to have a Christmas afternoon tea. We had a very cosy afternoon at Hill Top Farm. Jean, David, Hilda and Moira said they want to admire the sea and enjoyed cheese scones and hot drinks. It was so great to see a large blanket of snow and a calm sea.
Christmas Jumper Day
It is so beautiful to see people smiling and feeling the Christmas spirit... We celebrated Christmas Jumper Day in our own way, feeling great and not being just another day. We put on not only our festive outfits, also smiles, very good moods and with our residents we made a very special day. In the morning we had a singalong of Christmas carols when Judith joined us singing, dancing and making jokes.
Despite being a new festive day (since 2012, with the aim to raise money for children), our residents enjoyed the atmosphere. Olga and Marian were happy in their Christmas jumpers and even William smiled when Thomasina made a remark about his beautiful jumper.
