Activities at Westlake House Care Home
Residents enjoy playing hoopla and bocce bowls, which combine exercise with the thrill of competitive sport. We invite entertainers and musicians to visit the home on a regular basis and residents very much enjoy watching them perform.
We also have our pet therapy dog, Marley, visit the home on a fortnightly basis, and residents love petting him. They also enjoy health and fitness days, where they get the opportunity to participate in armchair exercises and target games.
We always celebrate National Volunteer Week, which we use as a chance to say thank you for the wonderful work that our volunteers do that further enhances the quality of life for those who live at Westlake.
As well as continuing with our favourite activities, such as arts & crafts, bingo, knit & natter, Scrabble, board games, bridge, quizzes, pampers & manicures, reminiscence sessions and musical memories, we always like to launch new activities for residents, which give them the opportunity to socialise with their friends and families. These could be our own vegetable patches, flower arranging sessions, a book club or anything else that our imaginations conjure up.
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 Westlake House Care Home
Simon Visits
Simon visited Westlake House residents to talk about his new children’s book. Simon has written several highly acclaimed books for young people, including Silenced, which was shortlisted for multiple awards, comin 2 get u, a novel about cyberbullying and World War Two which is read widely in German schools, and Firewallers, chosen as one of The Independent’s children’s books of the year. He is also the composer and lyricist of eleven musicals for primary schools, was an actor who once starred opposite Judy Dench in a theatre production and was also a stand-up comedian. Simon lives in West Sussex with his wife Deborah and an ageing cat called Pax.
Sumners Pond
For those residents who didn’t manage to go last week, we had a second trip to Sumners Pond for coffee and cake The sun was shining and the scenery was beautiful. Everyone enjoyed the trip and they are looking forward to going back again soon.
Easter Fair
Westlake House held an Easter Fair for the residents, family and friends, which was opened by Reverend Richard Coldicott of St Mary’s Church Horsham. The event was well supported by 1015 Squadron RAF Cadets based in Horsham who helped throughout the Fair. We had stalls where sellers had lovely Easter goodies to purchase and music from the Pleasure Singers and the Horsham Accordion Group.
Baxter's visit brings joy to canine loving residents!
We were delighted to welcome Baxter, a delightful Springer Spaniel for another visit to meet residents this week accompanied by David, a member of the homes maintenance team.
David, who volunteers for the Cinnamon Trust to walk Baxter for his owner in the community was impressed by Baxter’s calm nature he approached the home to see if he could be a regular visitor for the residents. Taking a tour round the home stopping in residents rooms with Baxter, so they could give him a treat before joining a group of residents in the lounge, he certainly enjoyed all the attention from all the team too. Animal therapy has been proven to have a calming effect on those living with memory loss together with helping to alleviate symptoms of low mood and lowering blood pressure.
Rosemary, resident at Westlake House, joined David and Baxter for a walk round the neighbourhood in the sunshine before afternoon tea with the residents, David said “I know so many residents who had their own dogs previously and they shared stories of the fun and companionship they enjoyed, it was a pleasure for me to bring Baxter to spent time here and he will be back again soon!”
Pupils visit to chat with residents
Our residents look forward to the regular visits from pupils Christ's Hospital in Horsham, they enjoy the interaction with the wonderful and thoughtful pupils who chat, listen and share life stories. The School has an extensive community action programme, which was started in 1987 and involves over 200 of their pupils. Thank you Christ's Hospital for your commitment to Westlake House in your community
Gents Club
Yesterday saw the first Westlake Monthly Gents Club - which was led by David Jackson who works in our Maintenance team. The club has been designed to allow the men to relax over a drink of their choice, share experience from their working lives and discuss topics close to their hearts. Men sometimes find it more difficult to develop close friendships, especially later in life so with David being such a popular member of the home team we're sure the group will flourish
