Activities at Milford House Care Home
Our teams are trained to enrich the lives of residents through stimulating the mind, body and soul, and taking the time to learn about each person to ensure everyone receives support that adds enrichment to their life.
The Activities Team at Milford House are dedicated to providing a range of stimulating activities for both groups and individuals, that promote both physical and mental wellbeing based upon resident's interests both past and present. As a member of the National Activity Providers Association (NAPA) the team are always striving to incorporate best practice into the array of activities on offer and to enhance their own skills through qualification with NAPA to NVQ Level 3 in Activities Provision. The team combine weekly activity favourites such as sherry mornings with special events, musical entertainments, slide shows, outings in our own mini-bus as well as interacting with local community groups such as Plain Arts Salisbury to showcase resident art and creativity and others who come into the home to interact with our residents. Milford House also benefits from a strong network of volunteers who support the Activity Team as they deliver their programme and who, along with friends and relatives, are always welcome to come and join in our sessions and outings.
Gale Louw
Gale joined the Milford team in 2019, initially as a carer but has gradually transferred over to the Activities Team where she is now the full time Coordinator. Gale has a passion to create a comprehensive and inclusive programme of vibrant events for residents, family
members and friends to enjoy and, along with the rest of team, ensure that each resident is able to participate in meaningful activities tailored to their likes and dislikes.
Originally from South Africa, when not at work Gale loves nothing more than exploring the UK, catching up with family and friends, being creative across a variety of disciplines and keeping her eyes out for great activities and events she can bring back to the home for
residents to enjoy.
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 Milford House Care Home
A Gold Medal Performance as Milford Celebrates the Olympics
Residents have enjoyed two weeks of Olympic celebrations which have encompassed opening our own 'Cafe Olympique' every morning during the games serving a selection of coffees, sweet treats and more, an Olympic themed Wine & Cheese evening with a mouth-watering selection of French cheeses naturally, and a French themed 'Making Memories ' lunch to name but a few!
There have also been Olympic quizzes, art sessions and scrabble and more and of course there has also been lots of shouting at the TV as we cheered home the Team GB athletes as they did us proud! Reflecting on all that we have done over the past two weeks we decided that we will definitely keep our cafe going on a more regular basis as it was such a great way to get together each morning in the Conservatory.
Residents Enjoy Hearing The History of Milford Come Alive
Milford residents were delighted to welcome David and Barbara Lovibond who came and delivered a talk on the history of Milford entitled 'Walking on Bones'. With our conservatory packed to the rafters, residents were held spellbound by the long and ancient history of Milford and some of the people and buildings that have played starring
roles in the parish. With arti facts to handle, old paintings to illustrate the area - including the well known watercolour of Milford Bridge by John Constable no less - there was much to learn in a lively session where residents had lots of questions but also knowledge of
their own to add to the afternoon. David, who is chair of the Milford Area Preservation Group is a passionate advocate of our lovely local area and its history to which we say 'hear, hear!'.
Getting the Gen on Gin!
Residents at Milford were treated to a fascinating talk from Hugh Anderson of the local, award-winning Downton Distillery which was so informative as he told us all about how gin is made, the different types, the varying strengths and so much more. There was a lot to take in and some fascinating insights into the market, sales methods and how a small gin distillery runs. We also got to taste two of his brands and at the end of the talk we all signed off with a fabulous pre-dinner gin & tonic based on the gin of our choice. There were lots of questions from the very enthusiastic audience and at the end of the afternoon we all raised our glasses to Hugh – cheers!
Residents Welcome Feathered Friends
Milford House recently welcomed the team from Liberty's Owl, Raptor and Reptile Centre who brought four of their beautiful birds; a tawny and little owl, a peregrine falcon and a kestrel to visit residents. Ryan from the centre introduced us to the birds, told us all about them, what they like to eat, how they hunt, why keeping their feathers tidy is so important and lots more besides! Everyone had their own favourite and as one resident said 'it was a treat to be able to get so close to such amazing creatures and observe them so closely.' They were so well behaved although at one point the peregrine seemed to take quite a fancy to his reflection in the mirror and started calling to himself! The little owl, with his mesmerising yellow eyes, also went and paid a visit to some residents in their rooms and was a most welcome visitor.
Summer Party Fun
We had a great turn out for our Summer Garden Party but sadly, due to the wind and showers, we weren't able party in the garden but that in no way dampened our spirits! So we changed our plans quicker than the British weather and we did our very best to bring the garden inside with our flower themed decorations, table covers and pretty posies of flowers picked from the garden on the tables.
With the fabulous Cosmic Sparkle in the house our dining room was packed with residents, visitors and smiles throughout the afternoon as everyone danced, clapped and sang along. We also had some stalls dotted around the home and raised over £220 for our chosen charity, River Bourne Community Farm. Somehow, in amongst all the activity, we managed to fit in a delicious cream tea and we must say a huge thank you to all the in-house teams and volunteers who helped to make this a truly special Milford afternoon.
And They’re Off – Residents Enjoy the Start of Royal Ascot
Residents and staff started the opening day of the Royal meeting by visiting the home’s specially created ‘Royal Ascot Boutique’ to try on hats, scarves and jewellery to finalise their look for the day while enjoying a cheeky pink cocktail and a chat. Then in true Ascot style everyone joined in our Royal Ascot Picnic while discussing the form and fashions before settling down to watch the Royal carriage parade followed by the more serious business of watching the racing and of course commenting on the fashions! Some residents enjoyed a little flutter between themselves choosing horses by name or colours worn and of course we had a small sweepstake on the colour of outfit that HM The Queen would be wearing – Royal Blue as it turned out!
