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.
Claire Burden
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.
Read our brochure 'Life-enriching activities' for more information about life in our care homes.
Read our brochure
Activities and Events Partnerships
As part of our bespoke life-enrichment programmes, we host a number of live virtual events in the home on a regular basis through a number of partnerships with places of interest and world class performance companies
Life at Kirkburn Court Care Home
International Happy Hat Day
This month, we have celebrated Happy Hat Day and what better way to do this than to make our own hats! Some great creativity was on show as we painted and glued our way through our designs. Of course, there was great hilarity and some pretty good modelling afterwards too! Well done to all our designers!
International Chocolate Cake Day
During January, we have been celebrating International Chocolate Cake Day! We have had great fun whipping up some chocolate treats for us all to enjoy! Some of our residents helped to make a chocolate cake and a batch of chocolate muffins. We weighed, creamed, mixed, spooned, iced and decorated our way through and we were delighted with the end result! We had great fun trying out the piping bag and poor Neil even got landed with the washing up! Of course, we all had a great laugh in the process - sharing stories and banter around the table.
Starlings with Royal Parks
Across our services our residents have enjoyed a wonderful live virtual talk about starlings, one of the UK’s most gregarious birds, hosted by Rachel Dowse from The Royal Parks London.
Rachel examined our long history with this bird and the importance of common species to our lives. Our residents had the opportunity to find out more about the great murmuration and why we need to pay special attention to these beauties before it's too late.
The virtual experience was truly enjoyed by all.
Christmas Parties
We were absolutely delighted to be able to have ‘proper’ Christmas parties this year – the first since 2019! Our lounges in Memory Lane and Buchan Neuk were jumping as we all joined together for some festive fun. It was great to welcome back Calum McDonald to entertain us all and the dance floor was never empty. Our residents and staff had a brilliant time – dancing, laughing and feasting on some festive nibbles. Well done to all our staff for pulling together to create such a lovely, warm, fun filled atmosphere for our residents.
Christmas Boogie in the Bar
Some of our residents recently attended the local Boogie in the Bar event at the Buchanhaven Hearts Social Club. This monthly event was of course Christmas themed this month! We enjoyed some mince pies and even had a visit from Santa himself! We had a great time boogieing to the disco and there were some great moves on show!
Christmas Food Bank Appeal
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who contributed to our recent appeal for donations for our local food bank. General Manager, David Garland, visited the Peterhead food bank and was delighted to hand over the donations on behalf of our staff, residents and their families. We are hugely thankful that we managed to collect a massive 17 boxes of food and toiletries!
