Kirkburn CourtBarchester Healthcare

Activities at Kirkburn Court Care Home

Here at Kirkburn Court, we aim to facilitate a personalised programme of meaningful activities, which are designed to promote independence, social stimulation and cognitive function. We strive to create a comfortable and safe environment where fun, creativity and individuality are encouraged. We feel it is important for us and residents to place value on yesterday, today and tomorrow – which is why we invest heavily in getting to know residents and learning their life history.

Our inclusive, yet respectful ethos is reflected in the wide range of activities we offer – ranging from larger structured group activities to one-to-one sessions. Our monthly activity programmes are extremely varied, but some of the activities you may expect to find include concerts, crafts, games, exercise sessions, reminiscing and outings. We also have a strong relationship with the local community and often invite external guests into the home, including performers, schools, and choirs.

Read our brochure ‘Life-enriching activities’ for more information about life in our care homes.

Read our brochure

Claire Burden

Activities Coordinator

I began my career with Barchester in December 2017. Having worked within the teaching profession for the preceding 8 years, I feel that I bring a range of transferable skills to the activities team.

I strongly believe that the provision of activities is about so much more than just structured, planned events – capturing and celebrating the little moments in daily life, such as enjoying a chat and a cup of tea together, are equally as important.

Activities, no matter how big or small, should be at the heart of every home and that individuality should be celebrated. In addition, I feel that activities should take a person-centred approach, which is why I enjoy spending time with the residents and learning about their preferences and their history.

My own interests include football, politics, crafting and drinking tea, and I enjoy nothing better than engaging with residents on these topics! I aim to bring energy, a friendly smile and a willing ear to the home each day.

Celebrating life at Kirkburn Court Care Home

New garden features

Keep a look-out if you are in our gardens and grounds as you may notice some of our new features! We have some great new talking points, including new water features, benches, animal figures and bird feeders.

Our Kirkburn Kindness Corners have also had a wee spruce up! We have also added a larger number of sensory plants beside the seating area at the front of the building for our residents and their visitors to enjoy.

Let's hope we have a nice summer, and we can all spend some time outside enjoying our spaces!
The photos show a sample of some of our new items.

The Kirkburn Classroom

July saw the first session of our new initiative called 'The Kirkburn Classroom.'

Our first class was hosted by Ina, who was charged with the task of teaching us how to crochet. Ina admitted herself that she hadn't done any crochet in quite a while and said that she might be a bit rusty! However, as soon as she picked up the hook and the wool, she was off!

She showed great patience, showing everyone how to get started and everyone commented on how much they really got into it.

We are pleased to report that almost everyone was well-behaved in class - with only some misbehaviour! It was a lovely afternoon - stay tuned to see who will be hosting our next class!

Wimbledon

During July at Kirkburn we celebrated the Wimbledon tennis championship.

We had some great shots on show, and we definitely have a few tennis pros amongst our residents! Of course, we had to sample some strawberries and cream too - it wouldn't be Wimbledon without it!

We also tested our knowledge with our Wimbledon-themed quiz - did you know that over 54,000 tennis balls are used during the two-week championship!? A great time has been had by all.

Reminiscing room

During July our residents, family/friends and visitors had the chance to come and visit our pop-up 'home life' reminiscing room.

Our drop-in themed room proved to be a big hit and everyone thoroughly enjoyed looking through all the different artefacts and reminiscing about days gone by. We had practical demonstrations of how to use household items, sing alongs with the old record player and conversations about housework, cooking and cars, to name but a few!

We are already making plans for our next themed room so keep your eyes peeled!

Home say fond goodbye to retiring colleague

After almost 30 years of continuous service at Kirkburn Court much-loved carer, Sheila Coutts has decided to retire.

Staff and residents at the home sent Sheila off in style with a party attended by fellow colleagues, residents and some of her own family. Sheila was presented with some personalised gifts to celebrate her retirement. She now plans to head off on a cruise to enjoy some down time. Everyone at the home has very fond memories of Sheila and she will be sadly missed.

During her time at Kirkburn Court, Sheila began as a day shift carer before making the switch to night

Sunshine walks

Jack, Helen and Jen have recently enjoyed a lovely walk round to the nearby Landale Gardens. It was a glorious afternoon as the sun shone down on us. We enjoyed chatting on the way round about all the different streets and we also met a couple of friendly dogs too!

Once in the gardens, we browsed round all the lovely flowers which are all just starting to bloom and then we had a pit stop for a cup of tea!

Jack was also telling us stories of the many happy memories he has of spending time in those gardens as a youngster. It was a lovely afternoon.

Outing to The Dolphin

Some of our residents have recently enjoyed a 'mannies trip out!'

We headed to The Dolphin Café for fish and chips. It is safe to say that lunch was thoroughly enjoyed by all, as not even a chip was left in sight!

We also enjoyed a run round the harbour to see all the boats and watching the hive of activity. It was a lovely trip out.

Donkey visit!

During the month of June, we were delighted to welcome back Jenny's Donkeys for another visit. Our residents absolutely loved meeting Pugh and Stumpy! We witnessed some lovely interactions and moments and several residents suggested that they would like the donkeys to stay here with us!

It was lovely to hear our residents reminiscing about their own animal experiences - some actually had donkeys of their own!

A huge thanks to George, Jenny and Millie for bringing Pugh and Stumpy along to visit - it was a brilliant afternoon and the sun even came out too!

Celebrating 10-years of service!

Our Senior General Manager has received a prestigious 10-Year Service Award in celebration of working at Barchester Healthcare for 10 years.

David Garland, said: “I am delighted to celebrate this milestone with all my colleagues. I have greatly enjoyed my time so far here at Kirkburn Court. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all my team members that I have had the honour of working with over the last 10 years. "They have all contributed to making Kirkburn Court the wonderful home that it is.”