Activities at Highview House Care Home

Our monthly community café is more than just an excuse to break out of fine China. Each month, residents, staff and family members are joined by a familiar face from the wider Inverness community for a coffee and a chatter using the Barchester Getting To Know You board game. This is a great way to meet faces new and old, and to keep in touch with the Inverness scene.    

We look forward to meeting more local figures at our monthly café.

Highview House residents a fortunate to live just five minutes’ drive from the main dock for the Seagull Trust highland branch. The Seagull Trust run short cruises along the Caledonian Canal, with afternoon teas and musical accompaniment.   

Every summer, residents embark on a number of trips, passing along the canal and through the swing bridges. No sign of Nessie yet, although herons and other aquatic wildlife have been spotted!  

It was a day to remember as residents of Highview House held their first ever garden party. Residents were joined for the day by an array of guests, as the home opened its doors for a day of celebration of community and inclusion.

With delicious home-baked goodies, a tombola stall full of awesome prizes, garden activities, special guests and Carole-Anne's very own craft stand, there were plenty of things to do for all the home, family and friends, old and new! By the time the heavens opened at 2.30, funds had been raised for the Residents' Fund and the day was rounded off with a performance of traditional music. 

Our thanks go to all the family, friends and staff who assisted the activities team on the day, Northern Constabulary Community Pipe Band, NorCon PipeBand, for the musical entertainment, The Fish and Chip Van for providing the fantastic food truck, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service for being such good sports and fielding questions from potential recruits both young and old and Margaret Thompson and her band for rounding off the day in style.

With temperatures soaring, we know that hydration is essential for our residents. And what better way to enjoy the summer sun than by taking a minibus trip out to some of our favourite ice-cream parlours? Whether that be soft scoop or artisanal gelato, Inverness serves something for everyone - and there’s very little more enjoyable than a cold ice-cream on a hot day!  

Throughout the summer, our residents want to take advantage of the warmer weather and our activities team are always on hand to run extra trips. With gardens, beaches, farms and parks all within a ten-minute drive of the home, you’ll see our residents (in their minibus) heading out to a destination near you at least once a week during July and August. 

Following a recent exemplary report from the Care Inspectorate, staff and residents at Highview House care home were further delighted to be named one of the UK’s Top 100 care homes out of more than 14,000 care homes across the whole country, by online care finder, Lottie.

The inaugural Lottie Awards recognise and celebrate care homes across the UK that demonstrate exceptional commitment to residents, families and staff. The team at Lottie conducted a comprehensive, data-driven review of thousands of homes across the UK, assessing them against key criteria that matter most to families when choosing care, including CQC ratings, enquiry response times, digital presence, team wellbeing and resident feedback.
 

Music holds a special place in the hearts of all at Highview.   It helps foster and develop a sense of community, but it also introduces new cultures and ideas.   We can use music to meet new people, and to revisit past times.   Over the last week, Highview House has played home to a series of events celebrating the Highlands and Islands of the North of Scotland.

We have held concerts by first the Margaret Thompson band, and then Eric Bell.  Both of these performances showcased the traditional music of the local area, while also introducing residents to French, Italian and even Eastern European folk music and stories.  

Throughout the year, Highview plays hosts to musicians of all types, and no matter what kind of music you like, there will be something you enjoy on our calendar. 

Highview House care home, in Scorguie, Inverness, had an absolute hoot on Friday, 23rd of May, when a group of owls came to visit the home.

Residents at Highview were pleasantly surprised to see these winged wonders flying around their lounge as several birds from Yorkshire-based conservation specialists Owl Adventures paid a visit. From the comfort of their own lounge, residents were able to hold and feed the owls, while learning about their lives in the wild, as well as the conservation work.

Lead activities coordinator Aiden Wylie said: “Our residents have really enjoyed their unusual visitors today. We knew that having the owls here would be a bit of fun for all our residents, but this proved to be equally enjoyable and informative. Activities in care homes don’t always need to be about recreating the past – now our residents can tell people. ‘Yes, I have held a bird of prey.’ That’s not something many of us can say.”

Resident Jesse Mackenzie said she was overjoyed by the Owl Adventures experience: “The owls are absolutely beautiful. It was such a thrill to hold them. I can’t honestly say that I would ever do something like that.  What a great day!”

Highview House care home is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering personalised care across its care homes and hospitals. Highview provides residential care, nursing care and dementia care for more than seventy residents, from respite care to long-term stays.

Residents at Highview were pleasantly surprised to see these winged wonders flying around their lounge as several birds from Yorkshire based, conservation specialists Owl Adventures paid a visit.   

From the comfort of their own lounge, residents were able to hold and feed the owls, while learning about their lives in the wild, as well as the conservation work.

Residents at Highview were thrilled to welcome international recording artist Brandon McPhee to the home. Brandon was incredibly generous with his time, playing for residents in our comfortable lounge, before going on to visit residents who love music but preferred to stay in their rooms.

With a vociferous ‘haste ye back’ from residents and family members alike, we hope it won’t be long before Brandon returns to Highview.

Highview House is fortunate to be located less than ten minutes’ drive from the berth of the Inverness branch of the Seagull Trust. The Seagull Trust provides canal cruises in a specially adapted boat, with access for residents with all levels of mobility. Trips are accompanied by music and afternoon tea.   

One of the most popular activities on the calendar, our residents are regular attendees on exclusive trips along the Caledonian Canal. With the wind in their hair, these two-hour cruises are a wonderful opportunity to see other boats, wildlife and generally enjoy the finest scenery Inverness has to offer.

Singing and music are always popular in the home, and recently residents, family and staff joined to welcome the Kiltarlity Community Choir, as they performed at Highview House. With a set including medleys by the Beatles and ABBA, as well as sounds of the 60s, 70s and 80s, there was something for everyone.    The songs stimulated lengthy chats about people, experiences and the memories related to music, making it both a collectively and individually rewarding experience.

Given the well-researched connection between music and memory, live music plays an important role in the activities programme here at Highview.  With a variety of different acts already scheduled to perform, we all look forward to some good old singalongs very soon.

Residents at Highview are keen to remain part of the wider Inverness community. That is why we hold regular community engagement events which see representatives of various institutions and organisations visit the home. Our guests join residents in our comfortable and relaxing lounges, to provide talks, videos and hands-on presentations.

Most recently, residents were delighted to welcome the Scottish Charity Air Ambulance to give residents a tactile and interactive talk on the lifesaving work that they do. Residents were delighted to hear about the helicopters, the fearless pilots and the state-of-the-art technology, and are looking forward to more guest speakers in the very near future.

Residents and staff at Highview House care home in Inverness dressed to impress, donned their best hats and outfits, studied the form guide and had their bets at the ready for the 2025 Grand National, which ran on Saturday, April 5th.

Along with visitors and staff, residents got together to watch the big race, and celebrated in style by having a glass of prosecco and indulging in a buffet produced by the in-house catering team, and taking part in not one but two sweepstakes, raising money for the Highview House Residents’ Comfort Fund.  A photo booth allowed residents and family members to create keepsakes of the day, while visitors to the home were encouraged to dress up for the occasion, with some donning jodhpurs and riding helmets. 

Fergal Naughton, head of the ‘Memory Lane’ dementia unit which hosted the party, said: “The Grand National is a household tradition for millions of folks, and our residents are no different.  Some of us love horse racing, while others don’t know one end of the horse from the other.  But at the end of the day, we were able to raise money for the residents’ fund while having a great time.”

With spring on the way, our residents’ Gardening Club will soon be picking their trowels for the new season. Working with volunteer gardeners and our kitchen team, our residents oversee both the sensory garden and the kitchen garden, preparing gardens with both practical and relaxation benefits.  

Our home is just ten minutes’ drive from the Botanical Gardens, so inspiration is never far away.  With the warmer weather, it provides another opportunity to get outside and also to continue long-practiced hobbies.  

And for others, learn a new skill!

Our regular quiz events at Highview provide a chance for residents to participate in competitive and fun events against friends and other Barchester care homes.  Using our multimedia technology, our quizzes are a chance for residents, friends and family to interact, compete, and demonstrate their expertise in a range of topics and quiz styles.

Quizzes include themed day events, general knowledge and even special UK-wide events based on well-known television game shows, and run on a weekly basis at the home. Quizzes are adapted to take account of residents’ mobility, and are suitable for all levels of visual and audible awareness.