Activities at Iris Court Care Home

Residents Celebrated there own Last Night of the Proms at Iris Court. 

Fiona Harrison visited us at Iris Court to perform her Happy and Glorious show in honour of the Last Night of the Proms. The performance was delivered wonderfully celebrating patriotic music throughout the United Kingdom and Celebrating our British traditions. 

With our residents singalong to there favourite songs, and many getting up to dance during the performance, or chatting with Fiona after she had finished, it was sure that a wonderful afternoon was had by all. 

One of the cornerstones of our life enrichment program at Iris Court is live musical entertainment. Resident involvement in choosing genres along with feedback after each performance means that we are able to constantly improve our activities calendar.

Residents at Iris Court were thrilled to welcome back Safari Stu's Animal party. 

Stu returned to entertain us for the morning by bringing in plenty of new visitors from us to meet such as hedgehogs, lizards, snakes and spiders as well as many different insects.  Residents had many questions to ask Stu about there new friends learning plenty of interesting facts. 

It was a lovely morning with the residents and families joining in, and challenging each other to hold the snake and spiders whilst posing for a perfectly timed Picture whilst creating many lasting memories together.

Residents at Iris Court Care Home love the animal therapy sessions that our dedicated Activities Team organises monthly. As one of the foundations of our Life Enrichment program, we know that animal therapy can help reduce blood pressure and improve overall cardiovascular health. 

Residents and Staff celebrated in style with there Las Vegas themed family fun day!. 

Our residents and guests enjoyed the day with the home decorated in true Vegas style, enjoying games such a poker and blackjack. The community along with families and friends where invited in to enjoy American themed lunch of American style burgers, hotdogs, Fries and all the sides and delicious doughnuts for the sweet treats. 

The afternoon continued with Brook William Charles performing a his hits from the 50's, 60's and 70's for us getting everyone up dancing and partying the afternoon away. Brook was wonderfully engaging with our residents at Iris Court informing us of his upcoming Britain's got talent auditions and the whole of Iris Court will be wishing Brook the best of luck, and hope to have him back with us again very soon. 

Why choose a takeaway when you can make your own!?. 

At Iris Court our residents have been stretching dough, and have been given the choice of many delicious different toppings to make their own pizzas!. 

Our residents chatted away whilst forming there most perfect pizza, whilst being able to customise this to taste, preferences and style.

Once our residents had created the perfect base, it was onto pouring on the tomato puree and adding on many delicious toppings of their choice, with many of our residents joining together to help others finish there pizza's or enjoy the last of the toppings. The comforting smell of freshly baked Pizza's filled the home whilst its safe to say the residents couldn't wait to tuck into there tasty pizza's for their tea.

Iris Court was full of animal mischief when this week when a group of Alpacas came to visit.

Our residents at Iris Court were pleasantly surprised to see their new furry friends roaming around their home as the Corn Hill Alpacas paid a visit.

Our residents have really enjoyed their unusual visitors today. We knew that having the Alpacas here would be a bit of fun for all our residents. At Iris Court we are always looking for new activities for the residents and today we have seen the seen the enjoyment and the therapeutic influence animals can have on people.”

Residents were thrilled by the Alpacas visiting today with many saying: “As a child I used to love all the animals on the nearby farm. Today was very enjoyable and it was wonderful that the animals were free to roam amongst us.” 

 At Iris Court animal therapy is one of the cornerstones of our life enrichment program and features regularly on our resident-led weekly activity planner.

We have been getting creative this week at Iris Court. 

we have started a new green house project at Iris Court with the painting of our much loved green house here in the gardens of Iris Court!. Some of our residents at Iris Court who enjoy keeping there DIY and practical skills up to high standard have begun painting our green house together as a home project. 

Our residents have loved being able to get hands on with the painting of the green house, with many reminiscing of there time at home managing any DIY jobs, whilst feeling the reward of working together to finish this and enjoy the finished result whilst we can still enjoy the warm weather. 

This has gave many of our residents the chance to still be able to carry out tasks which would of been part of daily life before Iris Court, whilst maintaining there independence and boosting social wellbeing and sense of accomplishment.

We are very much looking forward to any finishing touches being completed to the green house for the whole home to enjoy this special space and share many special memories. 

At Iris Court as part of our life enrichment programme we hold a Knit & Natter club for our residents who love to Knit and welcome the wider community into join us. 

It was a wonderful morning for our ladies who joined with it being such a cheerful morning!.

The ladies knitted, sung along to some of their favourite music being played, whilst sharing many laughs over the morning and making friendships whilst doing so. The group discussed what project they could work towards together to accomplish. Whilst holding the Knit & Natter sessions we are aware it reduces social isolation but it also boosts a sense of accomplishment, cognitive stimulation, emotional well-being whilst sharing skills and continuing to add valuable learning experiences.

We had a lovely trip down to our local Carers Café run by Portmill GP surgery. 

The morning was enjoyed by residents and staff as we spent the morning socialising with our community members , sharing stories, memories and sharing plenty of laughter, whilst enjoying a delicious cuppa and wonderful homemade savoury treats and cakes kindly donated by guests and volunteers of the café. 

At Iris Court regularly popping out for coffee, pub lunches, mini-bus trips, and other outings is an essential part of our weekly activity calendar

Our residents at Iris Court care home are thrilled with their home-grown vegetables. The gardens and green house are a much-loved part of Iris Court, and this has led to many residents coming together to continue lifelong hobbies, whilst sharing and supporting each other with new skills.  Our residents at Iris Court have managed to grow some beautiful plants displayed in the homes garden for all residents to enjoy, as well as their own homegrown tomatoes which are proudly used by the Chefs at Iris Court in their meal preparations and enjoyed by all the team and residents.

Tony, a resident of Iris Court added: “I’ve always loved gardening so it is fantastic to be able to keep that hobby going, I find it really therapeutic to be outside in the fresh air and to be able to grow my favourite flowers and vegetables.  It’s so lovely to see all the beautiful blooms, and to be able to share this with the staff and residents here.”

At Iris Court we are passionate about residents being able to continue enjoying lifelong hobbies, as well as exploring new adventures whilst living at our home.

Some of our ladies from Iris Court care home in Hitchin were filled with joy during their visit to Hitchin Lavender farm.  Our ladies were able to pick fresh lavender from the field and fulfil some lifelong wishes by revisiting Hitchin Lavender Farm, bringing back many fond memories of years gone past and wonderful times!. 

The ladies were able to spend the afternoon at Hitchin lavender farm amidst a sea of purple and gold, whilst enjoying the beautiful aroma of the freshly grown lavender in the air. 

Before heading home our staff and residents whilst enjoyed visiting the old barn to browse some of Hitchin Lavenders spectacular hand -made artisan products. At Iris Court regular outings are just one aspect of our life enrichment program and all the trips we take are at the request of the residents. Our monthly activities calendar boasts a range of outings and entertainment

We have had the pleasure of Trish and Tim performing for us at Iris Court. 

Trish and Tim are friends with Mary who is a resident with us at Iris Court and had met many years ago through Mary going to Our Lady’s Immaculate and St Andrews Catholic Church in Hitchin which Mary still visits. Trish and Tim kindly offered to perform for us at Iris Court so everyone could enjoy their performance. 

It was an amazing afternoon to have them in with us and find out a little more about Trish and Tim. Trish who is a partial assistant for Our Lady's Church has a variation of roles, and manages support work in the community, whilst discovering the pair have been performing together and have been married for 48 years! . We love having strong links within the community to be able to bring this to our home for our residents to enjoy as much as they did. 

At Iris Court we love hosting events that we can open up to our relatives, friends and the wider community. Life at Iris Court is about being part of the local community and enjoying life long hobbies whilst also exploring new experiences

Iris Court held our very own sports day, with the staff taking on challenges and races such as the egg and spoon race, obstacle challenges, three legged race!. 
It was a fantastic day for the team to come together and truly display some fantastic team work and support.

We had invited our residents, families and friends to join us for the afternoon in our gardens to cheer the team on throughout the races and provide some well deserved moral support.

A very well done to our top performers of the Iris Court Sports day and a big thank you to our wonderful families and friends who came to support us!. 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.

We welcomed a new entertainer Ronan into Iris Court. 

Ronan entertained us with songs throughout the decades, and made sure to encourage all  of our ladies and gents to join him for a dance with us getting up on our feet or grooving in our chairs. 

Ronan took us on a journey of music from the 1920's with some of our favourite classic songs. 

One thing we love at Iris Court as part of our life enrichment programme is hosting live musical entertainment and to be able to encourage all of our residents to join together, cherish special moments. Whilst enjoying each others company and making last friendships.

We always welcome our local community into join us for these events along with family and friends to celebrate life and those special moments together.

Staff, residents, relatives and the local community came together at Iris Court Care Home to enjoy an open day that was held at the home this Saturday!.

We hosted a variety of activities throughout the day, including a Dhol drum performance from Pali a friend of Iris Court during the morning, whilst the afternoon Sadie from Strictly entertainment hosted her all aboard virtual cruise show which both were enjoyed by everyone who came to our event.

 To finish the Joyous afternoon the home was visited by The Mayor of Stevenage Councillor Nazmin Chowdhury, who viewed the home and spent time with residents, families and staff. 

Staff and families were delighted to see different generations having fun together. with visitors enjoying plenty of refreshments, such as Traditional fish and chips, prawns and cockles, beers and cold soft drinks.  all prepared by out catering team.

 many Residents  said, “We thoroughly enjoyed it. We were all surrounded by lots of great people, and the refreshments kept flowing. The weather held out until we finished. Staff did a great job, not just on the day, but organising the event and getting everyone together.”

At Iris Court we love hosting events that we can open up to our relatives, friends and the wider community. Life at *Care home* is about being part of the local community and enjoying life long hobbies whilst also exploring new experiences.