Activities at Hethersett Hall Care Home

On Christmas Day we had a very special visit from our very own Father Christmas who visited all the residents in their rooms delivering presents. It was such a special moment when residents faces lit up as they were handed their gift from Santa and Rudolph. Residents and staff gathered before lunch to raise a glass. We all had a relaxing afternoon opening presents, watching the classic film “White Christmas” followed by the Queens Speech. A huge thank you to all our wonderful staff for making Christmas Day so special.

Throughout the month of December residents took part in many activities such as Christmas Carols, live entertainment from Johnny Cleaveland for our party, a Christmas Market, scavenger hunt, a trip to watch Thursfords Christmas Spectacular and even a special visit from Alpacas!

It was wonderful to see lots of smiling faces and residents enjoying themselves. Residents and staff had a lovely time browsing many of our stalls at the Christmas Market and treating their loved ones to presents. We had a great selection of stalls including Avon, Ketts Bookshop, Hurley Burley Jewellery, Angelas Cards, Wax Melts/Candles and many other craft stalls. Thank you to everyone involved!

Our home was beautifully decorated throughout the month of December to celebrate Christmas, with our lovely residents helping decorate too! We had several Christmas Trees throughout the home and in the gardens.

Our Head of Housekeeping decorated our reception to include a snowman made of plastic cups and a sleigh made from a mobility scooter! Activities staff spent time taking photos of residents which were made into Christmas cards for residents to sign and send to their families.

Our residents enjoyed music from the fabulous Splash Duo for their Halloween party. During the performance, we served spooky-themed cocktails such as Vampires Kiss and Witches Brew. It was a fantastic atmosphere and everyone enjoyed themselves, it was very special to see our residents and staff singing and dancing.

Residents also got creative designing some fantastic pumpkins to display in our home. Not forgetting our lovely staff who dressed for the occasion!

To further our Halloween activities we invited Hethersett’s Local scientist Lucy to host some spooky science experiments along with some little ones via Friend in Deed.

It was great fun, with the children all in fancy dress and always a pleasure to see them!

On Thursday 14th of October we part in a Virtual Cruise with Unilever as part of Barchester's regular Live Virtual Events.

Residents gathered in the library where activities staff had put up holiday themed decorations. Our chef Tony had made some delicious taster dishes from the different countries. Our residents enjoyed the selected menu and hearing all about the different locations Germany, Holland and Belgium. This event sparked some great conversations to reminisce.

Last month residents of Memory Lane were invited to the lounge for a sensory session with Juli, a local drama teacher.

Juli had prepared a story of going down to the river with appropriate props such as pebbles, a fish net, a picnic and blue chiffon material to represent a river. We also had the water sounds to enhance the scene. Residents were fully engaged throughout and expressed how much they enjoyed it. One lady acted out paddling through the stream, it was amazing!

The session ended with residents reading a lovely poem about a river by Valerie Bloom.

We can’t wait for the next session in December!