Meet our Activities Coordinator, Lynne Loughlin

I started my career with Barchester as a carer, with 5 years experience in the care sector previously. I have also achieved an NVQ in Hospitality and, in April of 2014, I assumed the role of senior activities coordinator at this home.

We all know that keeping active is important and that's why my team and I are here – to ensure that residents experience an environment that is both stimulating and socially active. The home has its own minibus for our numerous trips out to various local places of interest.

My aim is to make sure there is something for everyone here; I create a monthly schedule that is packed with many different types of activities, from musical entertainment to sensory stimulation and much more.

I am focused on building up our volunteer base, including family members and students from the local school. Each volunteer will receive a warm welcome to our Barchester family. We are building relationships with our local communities and integrating them into our home as well.

We are trying to educate people about dementia by raising awareness within the community. We already have relationships with the local Beaver Scout Group and primary schools, in addition to other organisations.

I am proud to work for Barchester and to be a part of a very important service.

Activities at Iddenshall Hall

Activities here at Iddenshall Hall are an integral part of every day life for each of our residents. We strive to include as many of our residents as possible with the activities schedule. Our Schedule is released monthly and includes activities such as poetry afternoons, indoor games, Bingo, flower arranging, pamper days, quizzes, exercises, various musicians and entertainers, Pat Dog Visits, Music Therapy, discussion groups and trips out in our minibus to local places of interest and further afield to see the Blackpool Lights or to Knowsley Safari Park.

We are constantly asking the people who live in our home which events they would like to see taking place and we endeavor to fulfill these requests. Our aim is to provide a varied and packed schedule which allows for a vast array of skill bases and capabilities. We are in constant contact with local groups and businesses, the local Beaver Scout group are always happy to pay a visit to our home, helping with the garden or coming at Christmas to sing carols for us. We also have a small group of volunteers to help us, including pupils from our local 6th form College who visit once a week.

All the above helps ensure the lives of our Residents are fun and fulfilled.

Life at our home

Halloween Celebration

We celebrated Halloween at Iddenshall Hall with pumpkin carving, as well as a Halloween themed tea party with poetry and music from Pam Moyles and her team. We spent the morning carving pumpkins, which allowed our residents to show their creative side.

In the afternoon we held a tea party for our residents, who enjoyed Halloween themed poems and some guitar music. The residents involved themselves by reading out some poetry and singing along to the music. Staff dressed up for the occasion and residents had their hands and faces painted with creepy spiders webs and decorations provided by Luisa, our Iddenshall Hall Activities Coordinator.

World Pasta Day

We celebrated World Pasta Day at Iddenshall Hall by creating some pasta artwor. We used food colouring to colour the pasta and then residents used their creative skills to produce some lovely pieces of art.

We had a chance to sit in a small group and have a chat about food and our favourite pasta dishes.

Home Completes Memory Walk for Alzheimer's

Supporting residents, relatives and staff members from Beeston View and Iddenshall Hall Care Home in Clotton participated in a community Memory Walk on Saturday 12th October, in honour of loved ones who have experienced dementia.

The leisurely stroll was due to take place at Arley Hall and Gardens, however due to bad weather the official event was cancelled. Our Team, The Barchester Belles, decided to take a walk of similar distance down Whitegate Way instead.

The walk, which was open to the local community to come along and show their support started at 11am. After the walk, all participants stopped off for refreshments at Beeston View care home to celebrate their achievement. We raised just over £350 in total.

Autumn Newsletter

Please click here to view our autumn newsletter.

Coffee Morning

We have started to hold a regular coffee morning at Iddenshall Hall every Friday morning from 10:30am until noon. We have invited our local community to come along and join us each week. It is a lovely chance to make some new friends or just enjoy a hot drink and a chat.

Residents at Iddenshall Hall love meeting new faces and having a chin wag over a nice cup of tea or coffee. We are hoping that some of the residents from our local village of Tarporley will enjoy our hospitality too!

Roald Dahl Day

We recently celebrated Roald Day at Iddenshall Hall. In the morning we read out some extracts from some of Roald Dahl’s most famous books, including George’s Marvelous Medicine, Matilda and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.

Residents also took turns to read out their favourite parts of his hilarious stories. Then we held a tea party in the afternoon where we read out some of the lesser know poems of Roald Dahl, such as Verruca Salt, The Three Pigs and Michael Television.

Residents also enjoyed reminiscing about when they read the books to their own children, which sparked a great deal of discussion and hilarity too!