Activities at Lucerne House Care Home
At Lucerne House our person-centred activity programme has been tailored to suit the residents living in our home. It is constantly developing due to the direct feedback from our residents and enables them to take part in existing hobbies and new tasks that aim to stimulate creativity, intellect, physical ability and improve well being. With music groups, pub outings, cooking, gardening, one to one time, entertainers, quiz's, bingo and more, there is never a shortage of things to do.
We also have external providers who visit the home. We have Rachel Sherring who provides Yoga Sessions, Lorrain Christopher who is available every Wednesday and Thursday for hair appointments in our on site salon, Sharon Rees who visits on a Wednesday to provide massage therapy sessions in the comfort of your chair and regular Church Services which do include a monthly Holy Communion. We are always open to new suggestions, so if you do have any, our activities team will always be happy to listen.
Alex Petersen
I have been at Lucerne House since November 2011. I started in the kitchen before moving to the Activities Team. I have a background in music and theatre and was very happy to be able to share this with residents in the home. After a short while, I was promoted to Head of Activities, and earned my NAPA level 2 qualification in Activity Provision.
In the role of Head of Activities, I am focused on ensuring that residents can continue to enjoy existing hobbies and interests, but also pursue new avenues of stimulation and activity. I am always looking to bring new experiences and means of engagement to the home, be that through massage therapy, yoga, engaging with the local community or many other things. At Lucerne House, our person-centred approach allows us to make every resident feel valued and comfortable enough to express themselves however they see fit.
My goal is to ensure that every person living at Lucerne House feels confident enough to make independent decisions and that each of them have a robust choice of activities and interests to engage with. I am always open to suggestions, so if you do have any, please do not hesitate to let me know.
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 Lucerne House Care Home
Knit & Natter with the community
Each month, our residents have been getting involved with our local community Knit & Natter group. Each session we a lovely time at St Michael's Alphington chatting with our neighbours and supporting their knitting project.
On our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BarchesterLucerneHouse/ ,you will see our posts where we have been making knitted squares to contribute to blankets, being sent to Moldova. We are so enthused to hear that, with our contribution, the community has sent 16 blankets over and are continuing to make more.
During our recent session, with the community, our residents haven't been nattering about all things Alphington and knitting more squares for the cause.
We have also began a new project, knitting little hats as Christmas tree decorations. Our wonderful friends, from the group this morning are also going to knit some decorations. These will all be available at our Lucerne Christmas Market, being held in December.
End of summer BBQ
With such lovely weather in the first week of September and with it possibly being the last of the good weather before autumn hits, our residents have enjoyed a spontaneous BBQ for our social night. We had made a start, that day, on our scarecrow's for the community event and Alphington School scarecrow parade. This was great fun, creating the heads and deciding on who's faces to place on them. It was then onto the BBQ. We had shandy and cider with ample amounts of salad, coleslaw, potato salad and nibbles to compliment the burgers and hot dogs, all finished off with ice cream and cakes. Our residents have said they had a great time, enjoying the food and having a good laugh with each other.
End of Summer Tea Party
Residents have had a lovely time being waited on at our End of Summer Tea Party by Jacob and Matilda. The pair have been joining us, intermittently, over the summer and wanted to finish with a tea party they could share with our residents before going back to school in September. We had lots of tasty treats including scones, macaroons, éclairs and more. Thank you to everyone who attended. Matilda and Jacob were very glad to see you all and enjoyed sharing their time with you, particularly the singing. They look forward to coming and sharing an afternoon with you again, later in the year.
An afternoon at the pictures
Our residents have had a great time at our brand new "pop up" cinema, in September. With the autumn and winter weather approaching, our cinema is a fantastic new service available, for our residents to enjoy. On its grand opening, our residents had popcorn, sweets, refreshments and of course their tickets for classic comedy episodes of "some mothers do 'ave 'em". We had two screenings, enabling multiple groups to be able to watch and enjoy. Our cinema will operate on a three weekly basis, starting in September, when we enjoy another afternoon at the pictures, watching the wizard of oz.
Mind, Body and Soul
Faith, creativity and lot and lots of singing, that is the best way to describe one of our days, in August, at Lucerne House.
In the morning we welcomed Reverend Mike Partridge from St Michael's Alphington for another wonderful communion service. Whilst that was happening, some of our residents were using our sensory art equipment which was a great way to channel our creative side.
In the afternoon we have had lots of fun with Zara King for another fantastic performance. Zara first joined us back in July for our Open day and by popular demand, returned to us and will continue to do so, filling our home with wonderful music, singing and joy when she joins us again, next month.
We have got lots planned in the next few weeks with trips out, more entertainment, exercise, a high tea party and the opening of our brand new "pop up" cinema.
Celebrating Cornwall
In August we have celebrated another culture. This time, as suggested by Roger and seconded by our residents, we turned towards a Cornish theme.
On Monday 7th, we made homemade scones, which were served the next afternoon for cream tea. This was done in the traditional Cornish way of spreading jam, then topping with cream. They were delicious and enjoyed by residents, staff and visitors. Whilst that was happening, our resident chefs were busy in the kitchen, making homemade Cornish inspired pasties.
On the Tuesday evening, residents have enjoyed the pasties for dinner, accompanied with rattler Cornish cider and followed with a pudding of saffron buns, ice cream, clotted cream and golden syrup or as it’s known "thunder and lightning"
We have a great time and want to thank everyone who has joined in with the event.
