Activities at Sutton Valence Care Home

It is with great pleasure that we say a very big congratulations to all of our Divisional Winners from the Barchester Care Awards, announced a few weeks ago, from over 2,900 nominations received in the company.

We would also like to say a huge congratulations to every one of our fantastic nominees! The final list was indeed, as always, a very difficult decision and you have all done so well in being nominated.

Residents enjoyed a morning of Zumba with our instructor, Donna, who comes once a month to hold a class. There were smiles all round on Wednesday as Donna pumped it up for exercise. The room was bursting with energy and residents had such a good time learning some new moves. Activities coordinator, Ricky, said it was great fun and loves seeing our residents enjoying themselves.

Residents, John and Dorothy, celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. They received a very special card from the Queen. Daughter, Ruth, and son, Phillip, came in to celebrate the big day with them. They brought a beautiful display of balloons and a handmade cake. Activities Coordinators, Ricky and Emily, visited John and Dorothy to celebrate the day with them. 

With this hot weather we have been blessed with the last couple of days in the UK, we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get outside and resume our Sutton Valence Gardener’s Club.

With the help of Residents Lynn, Sheila and Joyce and our Gardener, Peter, we were able to plant some tomatoes, green beans and carrots in our raised beds. We made an afternoon of it and had some ice lollies to cool off with.

Our Residents will be able to enjoy the fruits of their labour in the coming weeks. A special thanks for the compost that was kindly donated for the amazing hanging baskets that the residents made to adorn the outside of the home to invite everyone back to the home after some restrictions were lifted this month.

Staff and residents were treated to an interactive virtual floristry masterclass, courtesy of Master Florist, Michal Kowalski, from Blooming Haus. 

Blooming Haus started with a small pop-up shop in Chelsea. They have since blossomed spectacularly on to the floristry scene as ‘floral engineers’, carving themselves an outstanding reputation as one of the UK’s most innovative floral design studios. The company is the vision of Master Florist, Michal Kowalski and his business partner, Michael Dariane. The pair bring a completely fresh approach to floristry and their ambition to push the boundaries of traditional floristry has laid the foundations of Blooming Haus’ success to date.

Residents and staff were invited to gather together flowers and foliage chosen by themselves and follow Michal’s demonstration to create their own displays.  Residents’ arrangements will be entered into a Facebook competition judged by Michal and Michael to win Love2Shop vouchers.

Staff and residents were treated to an armchair workout courtesy of the Green Goddess, Diana Moran, and Shackleton’s Furniture Company, followed by a mindfulness session, led by Shackleton’s Emma Raybould.

Diana rose to fame as a glamorous fitness guru on BBC’s Breakfast Time in the 1980s and has made an outstanding contribution to improving the health and well-being of people in the UK. She now brings that experience to Shackleton's as their Health and Wellness Adviser.

Shackleton's and Diana both celebrate the importance of exercise, a healthy diet and mindfulness, particularly in later living. Diana has been working with Shackleton's since 2019 to promote their bespoke seating. She has produced a series of exercise videos extolling the virtues of gentle exercise in a Shackleton's chair.