Activities at Orchard House Care Home
Our home is always full of life, and we can thank our wonderful Activities Coordinators for this. Dedication to creating a unique and interesting activities programme is what sets us apart from other homes. We always take into consideration that some people would prefer to pursue their own interests, which is why our team strive to incorporative activities that cater to a wide range of tastes and hobbies. Our trips out are always fun and exciting as well, and residents are guaranteed to return with stories to tell their loved ones!
Katalin Schlepp
Hello, I’m Katie Schlepp, and my job as the Head of Lifestyle is more than a career; it’s my passion. Every day, I have the pleasure of enhancing lives and creating moments of joy for our residents. It’s a privilege to be a part of this community where we celebrate life in all its richness, from organizing engaging activities to fostering connections and ensuring our residents well-being, I’m dedicated to making every day extraordinary. Our residents happiness and comfort are what drive me, and I’m committed to ensuring that your time at Orchard House is nothing short of wonderful.
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 Orchard House Care Home
Valentine's Day
Valentine’s Day is just another day to truly love like there is no tomorrow." We celebrated Valentine's Day at Orchard House with afternoon tea for our residents. Homemade scones, cakes and chocolate-dipped strawberries. Archie made some Valentines cards for our residents. Thank you Archie! Our residents are really pleased with their cards.
Celebrating Burn's Day
Burns Night is annually celebrated in Scotland on or around January 25th, commemorating the life of the bard Robert Burns, who was born on that date in 1759. We couldn’t let this day go by without some celebration especially as Kim the General Manager is Scottish and fiercely patriotic!
After pre-lunch drinks where a few Scottish songs were sung and Kim read a poem by the great bard, with true Scottish flair residents sat down to a traditional meal prepared by Head Chef Claire Daffern. A fabulous feast which consisted of Classic Smoked Fish Soup, Haggis, Neeps and Tatties and a Traditional Clootie Dumpling Pudding.
We were all entertained by a piper in full traditional dress who played the bag pipes as he walked between the units so that those residents unable to join the group in the dining room were able to take part in the celebration. All in all a spectacular sound!
Chinese new year celebrations
Chinese New Year always takes place on the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar which starts the day following the first new moon between January 21st and February 20th.
This year Chinese New Year took place on Sunday January 22nd and saw the herald of the year of the Rabbit. The sign of Rabbit is a symbol of longevity, peace, and prosperity in Chinese culture. 2023 is predicted to be a year of hope. To help celebrate this very important day in the Chinese calendar, a number of creative activities were on offer for residents to take part in.
Happy 90th Birthday Sheila!
Sheila is another wonderful resident who marked her 90th birthday here with us! Sheila celebrated her day with family and a small group of friends and we held a small party here for her, she chose chocolate trifle as her favourite cake which we obliged of course. She really loved all the balloons, decorations and fun party games we planned for her and we all had a lovely time celebrating with her and her family. Sheila worked as a secretary in her youth and has 2 grown up daughters who visit and keep in contact regularly.
Happy Golden Wedding Anniversary!
Mr and Mrs Peter and Helen Reffold, celebrated the extremely special occasion of their 50th Golden Wedding Anniversary. Local papers printed stories of their life together and they gave us an insight of their life, Peter training as a teacher on the mainland teaching mathematics and physics, Helen training as a nurse, then working in a small shop when the children were small. Their secret to a happily married life is to work at it, accept life for what it is and take all the ups and downs as they come.
Happy 90th Birthday Kathlyn!
A huge happy birthday to our wonderful resident Kathlyn, who reached the incredible age of 90! On a residents birthday they are given a choice of favourite flavour birthday cake, a favourite meal and they are spoilt with cards, gifts and their bedrooms and celebration areas fully decorated with balloons, banners and bunting! Kate was visited by family on 2 separate occasions throughout the day and we had a small party attended by friends, staff and family here at Orchard House. Kathlyn trained and worked as a nurse for the NHS in her younger years so it’s our pleasure to now look after her.
