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
Book corner with Henry Slator
We had a lovely time joining Henry Slator for an exciting virtual event to discuss his book ‘Conversations at the Pond’.
Henry had an unusual writing journey, which many of our residents found inspiring, he underwent chemotherapy in early 2020, which allowed him to rediscover his light-hearted outlook on life by imagining conversations with creatures in and around his large garden pond and adding buckets of fun.
The entertaining Conversations at the Pond, with its mass of colourful illustrations, took our residents along his journey, they felt inspired, cheered and loved hearing all about Henry’s experiences.
National Tea Day
During April, we have celebrated National Tea Day. Here at Kirkburn, we drink large amounts of this beverage so we thought it was an apt occasion to celebrate! We took part in a range of ‘tea’ themed activities including bingo, puzzles & quizzes and a few games of tea bag toss! We also took some time out to learn a few tea related facts – did you know that 165 million cups of tea are drunk in the UK every day! Our residents then had a go at our tea tasting session whereby they had to guess the variety of different flavoured teas – and then give us a thumbs up or a thumbs down as to whether they liked it or not! It is safe to say that the residents were glad when their ‘normal’ afternoon tea arrived! A tea-rrific time was had by all!
Easter at Kirkburn
We had a lovely week of Easter celebrations. Our residents took part in many themed activities including decorating and rolling eggs, making Easter bonnets, designing cards and also an Easter egg hunt. We had great fun testing out our creativity and even nibbled a few chocolate rabbits along the way! We exchanged lots of lovely stories of Easter’s gone by and have compared the best local hills to roll your eggs down! A lovely time was had by all.
The Kirkburn National
In celebration of this year’s Grand National, we decided to host our own version! We donned our posh hats and used our trusty foam dice to navigate our horses along our DIY track. Nothing like a spot of healthy competition to get some fun going! We even had a staff race – which actually turned out to be the most competitive! Great fun was had by all!
Home support Ukraine donations
Residents and staff from Barchester’s Kirkburn Court together with sister homes Highview House in Inverness, Lethen Park and South Grange in Monifeith, have been putting together care boxes to try to help ease the suffering of people affected by the war in Ukraine.
Desperately wanting to help in whatever way they can, staff and residents put their heads together to come up with a plan of action and shared the idea of working with Scottish Preloved Baby Box, a charity that creates care boxes filled with essential items such as blankets, clothes and toiletries for people in need.
Discovering the Astor's
Our residents came together to enjoy an exciting virtual talk courtesy of the team at National Trust Talks Service. The illustrated talk took us closer to one of Cliveden’s most famous families, the Astors. Our residents were able to discover what motivated William Waldorf Astor, America’s richest man, to purchase Cliveden in 1893 and how the estate became the centre of high society in the 1920 s and 30 s thanks to his son Waldorf and daughter in law Nancy Astor.
