Activities at West Abbey Care Home
Our Activities Coordinators are constantly striving to mentally and physically stimulate those we support by organising group and individual activities for anyone and everyone to participate in. There are regular outings in the minibus to nearby places of interest, as well as visits from the Donkey sanctuary, musicians and entertainers. We also host evenings such as our Cheese & Wine evenings and BBQ's in the summer, that we encourage relatives to come to. Activities are one of the most important aspects of a care home, so it is essential that our team are dedicated to ensuring that residents are entertained. We encourage our residents to participate in any way they can. We also encourage relatives to join with activities and events as often as they can to ensure that life at West Abbey is fun and active for all.
Ryan Palmer
Hello, I'm Ryan and I joined West Abbey in 2018 in Hotel Services team where I was nominated 2 years running in the Barchester Care Awards by residents and their families. I moved to Activities in June 2021 which suits my outgoing personality. I know our residents well and love seeing their enjoyment of the entertainment we provide plus going out into the community on our mini bus, I have lived in Yeovil all my life so know all the best places to visit. The team call me the 'IT hero' as I'm always able to resolve the connection issues with our virtual events and our computer / tablets!
Read our brochure 'Life-enriching activities' for more information about life in our care homes.
Read our brochure
Activities and Events Partnerships
As part of our bespoke life-enrichment programmes, we host a number of live virtual events in the home on a regular basis through a number of partnerships with places of interest and world class performance companies
Life at West Abbey Care Home
Intergenerational Fun
West Abbey Care Centre in Yeovil have teamed up with Preston Primary School for a newly launched partnership which includes a pen pal scheme as well as giving the pupils at the school a chance to show off all their hard work, in this case showing off their masks that they’d made for Mardi Gras!
Residents of West Abbey Care Centre were overjoyed to see their young visitors and were very impressed by the craftsmanship which went into making the masks, as well as making new friends in the inter-generational scheme. Residents got to try on some of the masks, all while being able to get to know the pupils, something that in the next few months will become a much more frequent occurrence.
Helen Colaço, general manager of the home said: “Residents have really enjoyed sharing their time with the young pupils; so many have incredible tales and they love hearing the adventures of the students, as well as being able to see what they’ve been up to as well. Both the residents and staff can’t wait for them to visit again!”
West Abbey Has a Hoot!
West Abbey was full of animal mischief when a barn owl came to visit the home. Residents were very happy to see the barn owl, along with owner Cherry Barlow, roaming around their home giving people the chance to stroke and hold their new feathered friend.
Elvis Tribute
Residents and guests at West Abbey enjoyed an afternoon of grins with a live music performance that took place at the home. Local Elvis tribute performer Andy Macnewman performed a selection of classic Elvis hits.
Residents joined in with the singing, and clapped along as he performed his finale song Viva Las Vegas. The hospitality team at the home also provided a spread of sweet and savoury treats for guests to enjoy during the show.
Old & Young
West Abbey has recently hosted an intergenerational playgroup for residents and members of the local community. The event, which took place within the home, welcomed the group of pre-school children and staff from Little Discoveries Childcare in Yeovil to enjoy music, games and activities with residents at the home.
The catering team at the care home provide a selection of healthy snacks on the day, including hand cut fruits and vegetables and staff were greeted by smiling faces from all who visited!
Open Day
Staff, residents, relatives and the local community came together at West Abbey to enjoy an open day that was held at the home on Saturday 18th January.
We hosted a variety of activities all based around Winnie the Pooh throughout the day, including a word for word activity and flower arranging, which were enjoyed by everyone who came to the event.
Staff at West Abbey made everyone feel welcome and were delighted to see different generations having fun together. Visitors enjoyed plenty of refreshments, such as decorated Winnie the Pooh honey cakes, prepared by the catering team, who were hard at work making sure that a great time was had by all – it really was a team effort!
Christmas Festivities
West Abbey Care Centre, in Yeovil, got into the Christmas spirit on Christmas Day by having staff dress up in all their festive outfits to celebrate Christmas Day for its residents and their guests, as well as delivering presents and stockings to every resident within the home!
West Abbey’s Christmas festivities were in full swing with music playing, homemade Christmas cakes to enjoy and presents and festive cheer aplenty. Residents enjoyed a feast of festive foods prepared by the home’s chef, which were enjoyed by all.
General Manager, Helen Colaço said: “We endeavoured to give each of our residents something that they could really be excited about Christmas and have had lots of treats for the people who live here and their guests. I am pleased that we could hold something like this for our home and it is clear that everyone has really enjoyed the day!”
A resident at West Abbey Care Centre said: “It has been a lovely day. It was wonderful to see everyone go to so much effort to get in spirit. I really enjoyed seeing all the elves around the home!”
