Activities at Red Oaks Care Home

An outing to the local village pub in Henfield is a trip enjoyed by residents initiated by request of residents resulted in the sharing of fond memories and connecting with the wider community.

Presenting the opportunity for residents to enhance social and emotional wellbeing in a relaxed environment it encouraged the group to bond and strengthen relationships outside of Red Oaks. There was much laughter and engagement with the local community enhancing quality of life.

These regular pub outings promote social inclusion, emotional wellbeing, independence and contributes positively to residents overall happiness and sense of fulfilment. 

Easter saw a unique experience at Red Oaks of hatching ducklings, it was an unforgettable experience that melted the hearts of residents, visitors and staff. The experience started with the eggs in the incubator, the excitement built as cracks appeared in each egg and the ducklings over the period of a few days started to emerge. Very quickly they became the talk of the home with everyone watching them grow into mischievous balls of fluff!

Watching the ducklings take there first swim in the paddling pool we watch them go from tentatively exploring the water to very quickly and confidently diving and whizzing about.

We were sad to say goodbye to the ducklings, they had a positive impact on all but we were happy to know that they were off to their forever home in a large open space with plenty of water to swim in.

A wet Red Oaks always enjoy taking part in our Art Club each week, on alternate weeks we are joined by local school children sharing our love for painting. 

There are many positive well being effects of painting from reducing anxiety to enhance motor skills with the exercising of hands and arms improving muscle coordination, building dexterity and enhancing blood flow.

Residents at Red Oaks particularly enjoy painting flowers and landscapes. There is always a selection of art work proudly on display outside reception.

A trip to the theatre to see Oliver in Chichester.

At Red Oaks we believe that every moment in life is worth cherishing and we are thrilled to share the heart-warming fulfilment of a special wish for some of our residents.

We took a trip out to go and see the oliver at Chichester Theatre. This brought back many warm memories of going to the theatre with their loved ones.

Here at Red Oaks we continue our mission to provide exceptional care and support to all our residents. We are committed to creating an environment where dreams are nurtured, cherished, and celebrated.

Our home was buzzing with excitement on June 18th when music royalty, Dave Rowntree from blur, joined an intergenerational music therapy session hosted by Nordoff and Robbins, the UK’s largest music therapy charity. The fantastic team from Nordoff and Robbins are regular visitors to the home and their wonderful intergenerational sessions as part of Henfield Community Partnership are always loved by all the residents and members of the local community, however this one was at another level!

Nordoff and Robbins are hosting the O2 Silver Clef Awards on Friday 5 July where blur, one of the most iconic and enduring bands of the last three decades, will receive the O2 Silver Clef Award. The most prestigious award of the day, the O2 Silver Clef Award honours artists of the highest calibre who continue to impact the music industry with their outstanding careers and contribution to music.

O2 Silver Clef Award winners blur have been at the heart of British cultural life for over three decades. Since announcing their arrival with debut album Leisure in 1991, blur - Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Dave Rowntree and Alex James – went on to revolutionise the sound of English popular music with six successive UK #1 albums.

The awards – now in their 48th year – raise vital funds for Nordoff and Robbins to support a wide range of children and adults. The charity’s trained music therapists enable connection and communication through music for some of the most vulnerable people in society.

In 2023, Nordoff and Robbins held nearly 50,000 vital music therapy sessions across the UK. Shaped by more than 60 years of practice, Nordoff and Robbins’ trained music therapists use the power of music to transform people’s lives by helping them to express themselves and connect with others. The charity works with children and adults at over 380 schools, hospitals, hospices and care homes, as well as providing sessions from its centres nationwide.

Dave Rowntree commented: “Today has been a truly magical experience, it really is what music is all about – connecting with people and seeing the transformative effect music has on their lives. It was fantastic to see how people’s faces lit up when they were playing and listening to the music. As a professional musician, you’re often quite far removed from seeing the real effect music has, either locked away in a studio or on a huge stage far from the crowd but seeing people’s faces up close has been absolutely wonderful. I hope to do lots more sessions like this, it has been so joyful. Thanks so much to everyone at Red Oaks for having me.”

Senior General Manager, Linda Ryan of Red Oaks said: “We always enjoy our wonderful Nordoff and Robbins music therapy sessions but we will definitely be talking about this one for some time to come! It is not very often we have actual pop royalty at Red Oaks! We have all loved having Dave come to visit us, it has been a fantastic day and we’re so very grateful to the talented Nordoff and Robbins team for all that they do for our residents. Their sessions are always amazing, they are every Tuesday 11am to 12 noon followed by our community choir session 3pm to 4pm and all are welcome to join.”

Each week Red Oaks holds a community choir which is led by Music Therapist Kylie. It brings together music, memories and social connection in an inclusive and enjoyable session. The session is fun with popular songs that are easy to sing, with large print lyrics and requests from the group are always welcome.

Singing always lifts our mood reducing any stresses and creates a sense of joy in the home. Residents in enjoy the Henfield community joining us alongside family members creating meaningful shared experiences with the local community.

Friday is always looked forward to see friends that have been made, singing together and a good natter over tea and cake afterwards to catch up on the events that have happened over the week.

Residents and staff at Barchester’s Red Oaks care home, in Henfield, celebrated Harvest Festival led by Rev. Andrew Lawton of the Henfield Evangelical Free Church.

Residents at Red Oaks enjoyed attending the service with friends and family.  The home produced a wonderful display of bread, baked by the senior head chef Leigh Clifford. This enabled residents to continue the tradition of taking a loaf of bread to a church service for harvest festival to celebrate the reaping of the crops.

Each year, our residents look forward to the Harvest Festival church service and to giving thanks. Our residents enjoy being able to carry on traditions and presenting bread to the church as a thanks to god.

Everyone was excited for our first trip out in Red Oaks new mini bus having said goodbye and thank you for the wonderful outings in our old minibus we took delivery of brand new one.

For our first trip we visited a firm favourite of ours Camelia Botnar Garden-Centre it was fantastic to see all the changes in the seasonal plants and flowers, shopping for our Autumnal display and stop in their cafe for tea and cake. 

Our weekly outings are popular with all, changing destinations each week with requests taken from residents.

Each year St Barnabas house is the hospice for the Henfield area. They support the local community, people with life-limiting illnesses and their loved ones. Care extends beyond the hospice and the team at St Barnabas support the community and us here at Red Oaks.

Wanting to say a huge thank and give something back to this worthy charity staff took park in the hospice's annual 'A night to Remember' walk a 7.5 mile night time walk around Worthing.

The Red Oaks team was led by our palliative care champions at Red Virginia and Sorina who bring there own expertise and knowledge at the home to residents and family members.

We had a lovely trip to Littlehampton to enjoy the sunshine yesterday afternoon.

A lovely walk along the river side and of course we also had to have some ice-cream.

Our trips out are important as it helps our residents to continue to feel engaged with the wider community. Residents can continue to enjoy activities and interests that they had before coming to Red Oaks.

With the large garden at Red Oaks resident the gardening club have been busy sprucing up the courtyard, planting, tidying ready for the burst of colour that they will have in the coming weeks. Working as a team it was wonderful to see everyone taking pride and creating a beautiful welcoming  environment bring the courtyard to life.

Gardening is an activity that many of our residents enjoy, adapting to people’s abilities, it plays a meaningful role in supporting physical and  emotional wellbeing. Being surrounded by nature, plants, fresh air and natural light boost mood  and create a sense of calm. For many residents gardening offers a sense of purpose and achievement seeing the plants grow and thrive under their care.

Each year St Barnabas house is the hospice for the Henfield area. They support the local community, people with life-limiting illnesses and their loved ones. Care extends beyond the hospice and the team at St Barnabas support the community and us here at Red Oaks.

Wanting to say a huge thank and give something back to this worthy charity staff took park in the hospice's annual 'A night to Remember' walk a 7.5 mile night time walk around Worthing.

The Red Oaks team was led by our palliative care champions at Red Virginia and Sorina who bring there own expertise and knowledge at the home to residents and family members.

Thank to all the residents, family, friends and staff who joined us for this fantastic morning raising over £100 for this amazing cause. 

Our cupcake competition is always a firm favourite with staff. This year judged by Linda and Gabriel congratulations went to Louise for the best looking and Kelly for the best tasting cupcakes. 

MacMillan Cancer Support raises money to provide vital cancer services, supports research and campaigns to achieve better cancer care and support the cancer workforce.

A lovely afternoon, with the opportunity for residents, family, friends and the community to come together and enjoy the sounds of proms from Brass Fusion drifting through the air whilst sitting in the sunshine in Red Oaks' beautiful gardens.

With strawberries & cream and Pimm's on the menu,  there was no better way to spend the day?

The afternoon was finished off by lots of flag waving singing the National anthem and Sussex by the sea.

Red Oaks was delighted to host  the Warren Playgroup in Henfield's sports Day in our beautiful garden. Many families and friends of the children joined us to watch the sports day and have a picnic on the lawn afterwards.

Residents cheered the children on interacting and congratulating everyone for taking part. Residents enjoyed being part of such a joyous occasion reminiscing of the many times that they had attended  different sports days of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.