Activities at Overslade House Care Home

Residents at Overslade House Care Home in Rugby, Warwickshire celebrated the International Day of Charity on September 5th and also Emergency Services Day on September 9th. 

Staff and residents enjoyed reminiscing about all of the charities they had supported over the years and the different things they had done to raise funds.

Residents Marjorie, Betty, Peter and John went with the Activities Team on a minibus trip to deliver cakes made by our Head Chef Corey Leake, to Hope4, Rugby, for the homeless.  Next stop was to the Salvation Army, Rugby, followed by The Myton Hospices, Rugby, Finally we paid a visit to Hospital of St. Cross, Rugby who were thrilled with the cakes.

Emergency Services Day (also known as 999 Day) in the United Kingdom is an annual event on 9 September each year to promote efficiency in the UK Emergency Services, to educate the public about using the emergency services responsibly, and to promote volunteering across the emergency services. 

Rugby Fire Station Red Watch were invited to visit the home and it was touch and go as 15 minutes before they were leaving they had an emergency call out. 

Thankfully Firefighters came to visit residents the following day to talk about Fire Safety in the home and received cakes and goodie bags as a huge thank you for their time. 

Marjorie, a resident at the home, commented: “There are so many wonderful charities that do such fantastic work and we could not do without our emergency services, it was lovely to be able to celebrate all the good things that people do to help others and give something back, we also had a scenic drive around the surrounding countryside afterwards which was wonderful”

Resident, Graham Stead, at Overslade House Care Home was a champion speed skater in his youth and wanted to revisit a roller arena once again, so staff at the home made his wish a reality.

Graham has lived at Overslade House Care Home for 2 years and staff at the home were delighted to be a part of making his wish come true, as they knew how much it meant to him, and they all wanted to be there to see the smile on Graham’s face when his wish was realised.

Staff first found out about Graham’s wish and were dedicated to helping him achieve it, by arranging a visit to Midland Roller Arena in Lutterworth.

In response to this wonderful surprise, Graham, said: “I really enjoyed it”, whilst pointing out the very good skaters and especially those with flashing lights on their wheels.   When asked if one skater would make the grade Graham replied in his own way,  “He’s alright” 

. Living just a stone’s throw away from Birmingham Embassy Roller rink Graham visited frequently and was a relatively late comer to speed skating when he joined the NSA in 1950

By 1953 Graham was recognised as one of Britain’s top skaters and it was that year that he won his first British Championship medal finishing a close second.  By January 1954 Graham had taken no fewer than 5 major medals in his skating.

Celebrations have been in full swing at Overslade House Care Home in Rugby, as one of its residents reaches her 104th birthday in style.

Eileen Holdstock was joined by staff, relatives, friends and other residents as she celebrated her landmark birthday. A Birthday party was held at the home and guests enjoyed a special birthday cake made by the home’s chef Corey Leake.

During the war Eileen worked for a company manufacturing aeroplane parts as a quality control inspector to check for imperfections.  Eileen was born in London and moved to Luton where she met her husband at a dance.  Eileen used to love cycling and enjoyed holidays in Eastbourne, Bournemouth and Clacton before coming to Overslade House, where Eileen is enjoying a new chapter of her life.

The birthday girl, said:” I like to keep my mind active with magazine puzzles and word searches, this is what keeps you going.”

Violeta Baesu, General Manager of Barchester Overslade House added: “We’re delighted to be celebrating a truly remarkable woman as she reaches this amazing milestone. Eileen is such a popular resident who always has an interesting tale to tell, and we look forward to hearing many more.”

Residents and staff at Overslade House care home in Rugby have been cheering on Team GB throughout the Paris Olympics.  The home has been decked out with flags and residents have been enjoying all the action over the past two weeks. 

Residents and staff have had a brilliant time getting together to watch all of the different sporting fixtures from rowing to cycling, gymnastics to boxing, show jumping to judo.

Overslade House Care home teamed up with sister homes in the Barchester Healthcare Group to design and craft each colour of the Olympic rings, depicting the Olympic values, Respect, Friendship and Excellence. The Paralympic values Inspiration, Determination, Courage and Equality and our Barchester values, Respect, Integrity, Passion, Empowerment and Responsibility.  On Friday 9th August, Overslade House and sister homes in the region joined together to bring all Olympic rings together in their own closing ceremony with a French themed party. We were entertained with singers, wonderful food and wonderful weather everybody looked fabulous in their French themed outfits. It was so lovely to see everybody.

Resident, Marjorie, commented: “I absolutely love watching the Olympics, it is so wonderful to be able to cheer on our team and watch people excel in so many different sports, I just wish it went on longer! We also had a wonderful time travelling to our other homes to craft our Olympic ring. Thank goodness we still have the Paralympics to go!”

A Very Happy birthday To Our Resident Dot.  Dot celebrated her 93rd birthday and enjoyed a dining experience  with her family at the home today.  Dot said she felt very special and everything was wonderful. Whilst chatting to Dot during the  morning it was interesting to find out she was a tailoress and worked from home altering clothing for a company.  Dot also made a lightweight suit for her husband to wear when they went dancing.  Dot described how she took out all of the interfacing to make it lighter. Dot also enjoyed cross stitching and in the pictures is one of her works of art.

In the afternoon Dot and her family joined us for a virtual trip to Poland followed by a quiz.  Dot’s son said how he enjoyed watching the virtual trip as they were planning to go to Poland soon and gave an insight as to where to visit. Everybody had  a taste of some Polish cakes, Sliwka and Sernik na Zimno, which went down very well.

Staff and residents celebrated Pride Month and they were on top form , painting all the rainbow coloured elements for this fabulous Creative Mojo Ltd Rainbow Beauty picture. Part of Barchester’s 7 domains of well-being are Identity, Autonomy, Joy and Growth that we promote daily . Everybody worked together as a team  and also enjoyed the colourful celebrations from around the world and residents  had a fantastic time experiencing the different parades and carnivals on offer.

Pride Month takes place from June 1 to June 30 each year as a way to recognise the influence LGBT people have around the world.

One of our residents John, commented: “ it has been wonderful to see all the different celebrations from around the world.  I just love the costumes and the parades, and one of my favourite pastimes is colouring and art,  Many thanks to Creative Mojo Ltd this picture is so dramatic and colourful and I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of it’s creation and it is now proudly on display in the home for June's Pride month”.