Activities at Overslade House Care Home

Residents and staff at Overslade House had their bets at the ready for the 2023 Grand National, which ran on Saturday April 15.

Residents and staff got together to play the Grand National game on our big screen and celebrated in style by having, afternoon tea, and taking part in a sweepstake.  The lucky winner of our Grand National game, which was the first person to have 3 winning horses was resident Jean.  Residents pulled names out of a hat and waited with excitement to see if their horse won.  Overslade House also carried out a sweepstake of the actual Grand National, our lucky winners were residents, Noel, Reo, Judy and Dot.

Reo, a resident at the home, commented: “I love the Grand National, it is such a fantastic spectacle.  I haven’t got a clue about horse racing, I just choose the colours I like best!”

Residents at Overslade House enjoyed an eggs-tensive range of Easter activities, from making beautiful stained glass window effect eggs and crosses in our Arts and Crafts Sessions to receiving Holy Communion from Reverend Alan Hulme who also conducted room to room communion, followed by an Easter Service conducted by Gifts of Years where we were joined by friends and relatives, with many beautiful hymns drifting through our corridors.  Residents, friends and relatives also enjoyed a musical theatre show produced by Tickled Pink Productions. A delicious Easter meal of roast lamb and poached fish followed by delicious Hot Cross Buns and Easter cakes, prepared by one of our home chefs, Dominika Banovics, was enjoyed by all the residents.

Dot, resident at Overslade House Care Home said:  “It has been so lovely to spend time with our families this Easter, though like every Easter, I think I’ve eaten too much chocolate! It was so wonderful to see everyone go to so much effort. I enjoyed the Easter service and it was lovely to receive the Easter egg gift.”

Bookshelves are bulging at Overslade House where book worm residents were keen to get involved in World Book Day.

Staff and residents at Overslade House care home decided to host a discussion about residents’ favourite books.
Julie, the Activities Co-ordinator at the home commented: “Our residents all love to read and to discuss their favourite books so World Book Day is a fantastic opportunity for us all to spend the day with our noses in our favourite books. We also had a great debate about reading from print or electronically from a tablet, there were strong arguments from both camps!”

Resident Ambassador Anne Fletcher,  and resident Hazel Evans, read to Paddox Primary School in Rugby, weekly over Zoom and the children are asked questions about the story afterwards Anne said “it was so lovely to see the children dressed up in their World Book Day costumes, and they do so well with the questions which shows how attentive they are and how wonderful their memories are”

Held on March 17th, Saint Patrick's Day actually observes the death of St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, but the day has come to be a huge celebration of Irish heritage and culture.

Staff and residents at the home marked the day by making shamrock decorations and   going on a virtual tour of Ireland, listening to Irish music and watching videos of Daniel O’Donnell in concert and River Dance on our big screen. To start the Celebrations residents were offered Guinness, Irish Cider, Baileys Irish Cream and a Cocktail called the Irish Mule which went down very well, this consisted of a tot of Jameson’s Whiskey and topped up with Ginger Beer.

Jean, resident at Overslade House said: “It has been a lovely day. I really liked making the shamrock decorations and the virtual tour of Ireland, and also watching the Irish Dancing and watching Daniel O’Donnell, that was my first taste of an Irish Mule Cocktail it was lovely”

Residents at Overslade House celebrated Mother’s Day with visits and video calls from family members near and far. The home was beautifully decorated with fresh flowers and bunting for the occasion.

Staff at Overslade House arranged pamper sessions in our new Namaste and Nails room.  Residents were treated to gentle head and hand massages and received a full nail treatment.

Dot, a resident at Overslade Care Home, commented: “We have been so spoiled today, the staff always go to great lengths to make sure days like this are so special. It was lovely to be pampered and have my hands and nails done, it was wonderful to see my family and to be able to spend some quality time together plus we all had a fabulous afternoon tea, I absolutely loved it.”

Canine fans at Overslade House have been glued to their screens to watch the pups being put through their paces.  They have been avidly watching the judging of all the different breeds and waiting to see which dogs have been selected to go through to the next round of judging.  But best of all they love the agility competitions where the dogs all seem to have so much fun!  Residents then had a quiz to guess the dog breed, with some weird and wonderful names cropping up.  Our Activities Lead, Julie brought in her red Dachshund to meet the residents and the winner of best in breed was a beautiful longhaired red Dachshund.

Resident, John Smith, commented: “I have always been a huge fan of all sorts of different animals but dogs have to be my favourite, they are just such loving and loyal creatures.  Crufts is such great entertainment, I am so glad it is back – I just wish it went on for longer!”