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
Residents Choose Their Own Christmas Tree
Residents at West Abbey Care Centre in Yeovil recently visited their local Christmas tree farm in order to pick their very own tree, which has pride of place within the lobby of the home.
Staff and residents from the home travelled out to Yeovil Christmas tree farm bright and early in the morning in order to have a look at all the Christmas trees on offer to pick the best one for their home.
Residents spent nearly an hour looking around at each and every tree, wanting to choose wisely to pick the most impressive looking tree on offer, and braving the wind on a chilly but bright day!
Helen Colaço, General Manger at West Abbey Care Centre, said: “One of our favourite days in winter is going out to choose our tree, not only do the residents get a lovely day out, we get to look at it knowing that we chose it ourselves. It looked like a great tree when it arrived and looks even better now it’s been decorated”.
Gardening Project
West Abbey Care Centre in Yeovil have teamed up with Fairmead School and Young Somerset from the school to come and help out in the garden as well as the students making some bird feeders for the home, connecting residents within their homes with the pupils. The home was visited by 10 students from Fairmead school as well as staff members from both Fairmead School and Young Somerset for 4 days across the past 2 weeks, and they all worked very hard the entire time!
Residents of West Abbey have been enjoying seeing the students and getting to know them. Residents have also said how much of a difference they have made out in the garden, with one resident jokingly saying “I don’t remember the last time I saw it this tidy!”
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 and seeing the difference they have made to the gardens. The residents can’t wait to see all of the birds finding our new feeders that have been made for them!”
Tricks and Spooky Treats
West Abbey care centre, in Yeovil, was a den of ghoulish activity as the home’s spooky Halloween party got in to full swing.
Staff, residents and guests got in to the spirit of things with some pumpkin carving. The pumpkins carved by the residents were used all over the home and were a spooky sight for all.
General Manager, Helen Colaço cackled: “Our residents and staff love an opportunity to dress up and what better time of the year to do this than Halloween? We’ve had a whole range of tricks and treats for the people that live here and their guests today and we have all really enjoyed every moment of it!”
A resident at West Abbey Care Centre said: “It has been a fun day. It was wonderful to see everyone go to so much effort to get in spirit. I really enjoyed carving the pumpkins, it was so rewarding to see them lit up when we were finished!”
West Abbey care centre is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering personalised care across its care homes and hospitals. West Abbey Care Centre provides residential care, nursing care and dementia care for 91 residents from respite care to long term stays.
Open Day
Staff, residents, relatives and the local community came together at West Abbey Care Centre to enjoy an open day that was held at the home on Saturday 19th October.
West Abbey Care Centre hosted a variety of activities throughout the day, all based around the theme of the event, Superheroes! Staff dressed up as their favourite superheroes and there were quizzes and films for all the residents and visitors to participate in, which were enjoyed by everyone who came to the event.
Staff at West Abbey Care Centre made everyone feel welcome and were delighted to see different generations having fun together. Visitors enjoyed plenty of refreshments, such as superhero decorated homemade cakes and biscuits, 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!
One resident said, “I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was surrounded by lots of great people, and the refreshments kept flowing. The weather held out until we finished. Staff did a great job, not just on the day, but organising the event and getting everyone together.”
Helen Colaço, General Manager at the home, said: “Staff at West Abbey Care Centre are dedicated to making sure that the home is a hub of the local community, and this event, along with all their hard work, has definitely paid off. It was a resounding success!”
Live Music Performance
Residents and guests at West Abbey Care Centre in Yeovil enjoyed a morning of grins with a live music performance that took place at the home. Local school, Perrot Hill School in Crewkerne performed a selection of songs from musicals and songs for all the residents to sing along to that they have been learning in their school.
Perrot Hill School visited for the morning to perform their music for everyone in the home and to take some time to get to know the residents within the home. Perrot Hill have been visiting West Abbey Care Centre yearly for the last 3 years and always bring smiles to the residents faces!
The hospitality team at the home provided a spread of sweet and savoury treats for guests and performers to enjoy after the show.
Laetitia Brooks, Year 6 Tutor and Head of French at Perrot Hill School said: "It has been a great pleasure to meet so many people, having an opportunity to chat with the residents following our singing performance; our group always look forward to coming to the home.”
General Manager, Helen Colaço said, “Our residents and guests had a wonderful day singing along with the wonderful performers. We do our best to provide a wide range of activities and entertainment at West Abbey Care Centre as part of the lifestyle enrichment programme for residents, and this was one was one of our favourites.
Summer Fête
Staff, residents, relatives and the local community came together to enjoy our summer fête that was held in the home’s grounds to celebrate our 25th anniversary.
We hosted a variety of activities throughout the day, including a BBQ, live music from Wendy Bassett, a raffle, many other stalls, and a Viking re-enactment performance by one of the care staff, Stephen, which was enjoyed by everyone who came to the event.
Staff made everyone feel welcome and were delighted to see different generations having fun together. Visitors enjoyed plenty of refreshments, such as burgers, hot dogs and cakes that wereprepared 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!
