Activities at South Chowdene Care Home

South Chowdene residents really do like a singalong! They absolutely adored Mike Memphis, who came in to serenade us on the anniversary of Elvis birthday. Staff were amazed at the reaction he got.

Residents requested that he come back again as soon as possible, both after the show and at the quarterly residents’ meeting. Mike was great with everyone there and many can smile over and over again at the pictures they had taken with him.

Here at South Chowdene, we decided it would be nice to get the photo memories out for 2018 and celebrate everything that happened and everyone who made contributions, made us smile or gave us a laugh.

To get the event going, the Low Fell Ukes got us all singing and shaking shakers, which sent us all down memory lane for starters, and then we came to the main part – the prizes! There were some big surprises for some of the residents and many were quite overwhelmed that they were noticed for who they are and what they do.

There were a lot of laughs at the various ‘categories’ for prizes, and we topped the event off with some extra special drinks and nibbles on the tea trolley.

Over the summer, South Chowdene residents carefully planted chili seeds and tended the Chili plants, keeping them hydrated over the hot months and upright during the winds by attaching them to ever-growing stakes.

Willie (a resident who used to be a farmer) kept us right as to what we should be doing to keep them tip top, alongside the other avid gardeners who enjoyed getting back to producing their own food.

We finally tasted the results of our efforts, which went down well, and we are looking forward to using the rest of the crop.

On Saturday 6th October, we had 7 external stalls and our own tombola and raffle, which were run by our dedicated volunteers, Jane and Julie. Residents manned their own stall, for which they had made paperweights and sweet bags, and our Head Chef made a superb broth with warming hot dogs and burgers to go with it. Gilly entertained with some ukulele hits from '20s, '30s and '40s, which got the residents moving, if not up and dancing.

This year, South Chowdene opened its doors to the local community; everyone was invited to join in a bake off, have a go on the Tombola, listen to entertainment from renowned Accordion player, Leo Brown, or just to have a sit and natter with anyone else around. Everyone had a great time and we managed to raise £61.10 in total.

On Friday 13th July, 3 residents took a trip to Heighleygate Garden Centre in Morpeth. After an interesting ride up the A1, we arrived at this huge garden centre and were pleasantly surprised to find plenty of indoor and outdoor plants that residents could name and remember growing in their gardens. There were also clothes and book shops, which prompted many discussions.

After a lovely lunch in the café, we also discovered the pet corner, with furry and feathered friends bringing back memories of pets and experiences, as well as plenty of tanks of colourful fish of all shapes and sizes.

On the way home, we drove down the coast and had a look at the ‘Couples’ statue at Newbiggin. We arrived back at the home just in time for tea and ready for a rest.