Meet our Activities Coordinator, Leanne Thompson

I joined the team at Hurstwood View in June 2015 as an Activities Coordinator. I began working within the care industry 12 years ago, beginning as a support worker and outreach coordinator at Headway in Newick. This position paved the way to me attending the University of Northampton to work towards various qualifications within the Acquired Brain Injury field, which I am incredibly proud of.

Most recently, before joining Hurstwood View, I worked with the South East Coast Ambulance service as a full time Emergency Medical Advisor. I was the first point of contact for 999 calls to the ambulance service. This job was incredibly rewarding and fast moving, as you would imagine! In the November of 2013, however, my partner and I had the biggest surprise when we found out that I was pregnant with our first baby, Pippa, who is now fast-approaching the terrible twos. This lead me to find a role which was a little less stressful and allowed me more time to spend with our little girl, and this is how I came to work at Hurstwood View.

I am loving my career as an Activities Coordinator as I really enjoy the arts and crafts, am a keen baker, and love finding interesting places to visit. I particularly enjoy when we have the Pet Pals in, as the residents absolutely love seeing and interacting with the animals, as do I! In the past year we’ve also had many brilliant musicians in, which often leads to a little sing along and a boogie. One of my favourite trips we have been on is to our cherry tree in Northiam where, once a year, we get to go and pick cherries from our own tree, and get to enjoy a picnic in the great outdoors. We also bring plenty home for residents to share with friends! If you want to see more of the sorts of activities we get up to at Hurstwood View then pop by the Life at Our Home section on the website.

Activities at our home

Activities are the cornerstone of a wholesome home experience and our Activities Coordinators are always putting their creative minds to the test by organising new and exciting social events for residents to partake in. Of course, we take into account the likes and dislikes of those we support, so if someone doesn’t feel like trying something new, there will always be something on offer to reflect their personal interests. For the people who may just prefer some peace and quiet instead, we also offer one-to-one time that can be enjoyed with a nice cup of coffee or just a simple chat – whatever they desire.

Life at our home

Christmas Festivities

Throughout December we have been very busy, from our local scout group, local choirs and friends to the home to bell ringers, children and plenty of cheer. We’ve raised money for Alzheimer’s society on Elf day and held a mince pie competition.

We had a visit from the lions club Santa sleigh and decorated our own tree at the local Christmas tree festival. We had great fun taking a drive around to see the local lights and then indulged in popcorn when we went to the local cinema to see White Christmas.

Cocktails and Dinner

Staff, residents and visitors dressed in their finest outfits to attend a cocktail and dinner evening we hosted in our main café area. We had a violinist to play background music whilst we were served a 3 course evening meal of salmon or beef and enjoyed a cocktails or glass of wine

Loved ones shared roses and it was great opportunity for families to come together over a special meal. We ended the evening with more cocktails and dances.

Afternoon Fun

We had our local cub group join us for an evening of Christmas card making and preparation for their carol, singing with us in a few weeks. Doris our eldest resident took great joy in showing her card she had received for her 100th birthday and the leaders and all the cubs were keen to hear from Doris the secrets of a long life and happiness.

Autumn Crafts Morning

We invited local parents, grandparents and Childminds with their toddlers to join us for a morning of autumn fun. We explored the gardens collecting conkers, leaves and playing in the water fountain before returning indoors for a hot cuppa chocolate whilst leaf painting, making conkers caterpillars and autumn hedgehogs.

Everyone had a great morning and asked when we would be hosting another toddler and carer event

Yoga Session

We have been practicing yoga within our home for 6 months now and the benefits are really starting to show as some of the participants balance has improved so much that they are able to stand for some of the session.

Grace, our yoga instructor is patient and adaptive to everyone’s needs and the time to reflect and meditate at the end gets us all ready for the day head.

Ice-creams at Newhaven

We made the most of the last sunshine and headed to Newhaven for ice-cream on the beach and to make use of the new disabled access ramp which goes down the beach.

The sun shone as we watched the boats, ferry’s and water skies as well as the brave visitors taking a dip in the cold sea