Activities at Iris Court Care Home

Staff and residents at Iris Court care home in Hitchin have invited neighbours, and friends from the local community to enjoy an interactive Dementia friendly performance “Escape to the sea “with playwright and actress Jenny Ayres.

As part of the homes monthly carers café which is held on every second Thursday of the month from 10:30am, residents from within the local community were invited to join to attend the performance whilst enjoying tea, coffee and cake whilst being able to discover more about living with dementia and this condition, with Alzheimer’s society, and other guests in attendance there was plenty of support on hand for the community.  

The escape to the sea performance is wonderfully engaging for all, with a fabulous story, plenty of props and interaction with the audience allowing for plenty of reminiscence over fond memories or family trips to the seaside and holidays.

Hosting events for friends and family members to join us is an essential part of our activities program and we are always looking for new ideas to bring the wider community into our home.

Iris Court held there first Tot's club today!

We welcomed in all parents, grandparents, toddler groups to join us for the morning with Bluey in attendance, with areas of soft play and toys available for little ones to enjoy. 

With Intergenerational activity offering numerous benefits for both our residents and younger participants, is one of the reasons for starting our monthly group, as well as offering a safe space to utilise for the community. 

Intergenerational activities help boost a sense of purpose, emotional wellbeing , and stimulate memory. Whilst for the younger participants it can help boost empathy, promote social skills and provide valuable life lessons. 

At Iris Court his sort of activity is made possible through our close links with local schools, colleges and nurseries. Intergenerational activities are a cornerstone of our life enrichment program. 

We had Terri visit us at Iris Court for our Bi-weekly armchair yoga class. 

Our residents at Iris Court Highly enjoy Terri's sessions with us, as part of our life enrichment programme at Iris Court, we value regular exercise and movement with high importance and ensure there is plenty of variation to encourage all of us to keep moving!. 

The armchair yoga class is a fantastic class enabling all of our residents to join in, and do as much as they can. Whilst Yoga is fantastic for improving balance, co-ordination, flexibility and strength whilst being able to support each other in the group.  

At Iris Court we make every effort to incorporate and support our residents hobbies and life long interest's into our life enrichment plan .

Iris Court Launched there dementia disco, holding a fun vibrant event for our residents. 

The dementia disco is designed to engage all residents in a fun, interactive experience for all. 

Spending time with our residents, staff and families on a Friday evening, dancing and enjoying a tipple bought a sense of joy and connection to the evening. whilst it also showed that age and anyone living with cognitive challenges there are no barriers to enjoying music and dance. 

With Iris Court setting up our own bar for the evening, glow sticks at the ready, and our residents choosing there favourite party songs to play throughout the evening, it was most defiantly a wonderful way to spend a Friday night.

Iris Court had the fantastic Adele Querelle in for the afternoon at Iris Court. 

Adele had residents and staff up dancing ang singing performing our favourite old time classic songs, and even letting some of us take the mic showing of our vocals. 

In between songs for Adele we had our own resident Slyvia request to take centre floor and share with us a very special poem Daffodils by William Wordsworth, which she remembers learning as a young girl at school. Of course with such a well known poem as home we all sung along to the famous song " I wandered lonely as a cloud by Pete Ashley".

Many residents and staff thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon, with the sun shining, a refreshing drink and plenty of laughter, dancing and making lasting friendships together. 

Iris Court held this morning a Cyber Protect Talk, held by Herts Police. 

The Talk was held by Alan a Cyber Protect/ Cyber Prevent officer, who took us through on the morning many different ways to be able to spot a scam, online and through different mediums. 

Alan also gave us plenty of helpful tips on how to prevent scams, or what to do to report these. whilst after the talk our residents thoroughly enjoyed talking about past experiences with similar jobs, they may have of had to be watchful of at Barclays bank or other companies and roles, or stories of people that had experienced these issues in the past. 

At Iris Court hosting events for friends and family members to join us is an essential part of our activities program and we are always looking for new ideas to bring the wider community into our home.