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
'Howay' for Geordie themed day
Resident’s enjoyed a good old fashioned knees up as they hosted their ‘Geordie Day’, it was a fun-filled day chatting about the charm of all things North East and its unique dialect and the way folk ‘just get on with it’. Geordies are proud of their roots and are friendly and welcome to all those they meet.
Everyone got into the theme as they dressed in their Geordie clobber, curlers, head scarfs and Nora Betty tights! The antiques were brought out and everyone chattered about the old bellows, plungers and cooking gadgets provoking fond memories.
Residents enjoyed a delicious Geordie themed menu freshly prepared by the homes chef’s before sitting back with musical instruments and ukulele to raise the roof with renditions of famous Geordie songs. The day was finished with wholesome tea of savaloy, dips and Pease pudding a local delicacy. It was a wonderful day for all!
The sound of music
On July 27th all was quiet at Harton Grange. Majority of the residents were sitting in the main lounge relaxing. When all of a sudden the carers on shift starting singing to the residents, the residents sang back and it was a beautiful sound. The management were in awe, the smiles on the residents faces were magical. The carers sang to keep the residents entertained while waiting for their afternoon tea. The atmosphere was fabulous. This followed by our weekly knit and natter, where the residents get together for a catch up, talk or sing while knitting. All the residents look forward to the weekly gathering.
World Chocolate Day
Residents of Harton Grange enjoyed a day of luscious chocolate as part of the homes World Chocolate Day celebrations! Residents spent the morning sharing bars of chocolate with each other as they chattered about their favourite bars and what they used to eat when they were children and how it was a treat to get a chocolate bar when times were tough!
In the afternoon they tested their knowledge with a chocolate themed quiz which explained the origin of chocolate and how it began as a medicine and has grown into the wonderful form it is today. Everyone chatted about cooking with chocolate, baking chocolate cakes, cookies and muffins and how they all enjoyed making chocolate crispy cakes at Harton Grange and there is nothing better than relaxing with a mug of hot chocolate and a couple of cookies!
Divisional Volunteer of the Year
Congratulations to Brenda Clark, who has been named as a Divisional Winner in the 2020 Barchester Care Awards. Brenda is a finalist in the Volunteer of the Year category, and has been invited to attend a virtual awards ceremony on 8th October, where she will find out if she has won overall.
What's the Scoop?
With the lovely sunny weather we are having, we decided to bring one of our favourite places to our home. As none of our residents can go out to our local seafront and visit the ice cream parlour there, we decided: why not bring it to us?
We set up one of our newly refurbished dining rooms with lovely bunting, table covers and matching napkins and invited the residents to visit (whilst social distancing, of course) to choose what they would like from the menu.
Our ice cream parlour had waitress service, lovely sixties music and mountains of ice cream. A fantastic afternoon was enjoyed by all the residents!
Keep on Moving!
Residents have been enjoying armchair exercise sessions which gets their muscles moving. It is a lot of fun! As part of the interactive sessions, residents show their friendly competitive side as they play balloon tennis which is good for eye co-ordination! This keeps everyone active.
Everyone joins in and there is lots of fun and laughter followed by a cup of tea and a sweet treat in the middle to restore their energy!
