Meet our Activities Coordinator, Tina Hughes

Hello. I am Tina and I have worked as an Activities Coordinator at White Lodge since 2008. I really enjoy my job and it's great to see residents enjoying themselves. The activities I arrange include baking, gardening, arts & crafts, knit & natter, quizzes & crosswords, table games, hand massage, cheese & wine afternoons and flower arranging. I also arrange physical activities such as Oomph Wellness for older people and a walking group. I also plan trips out in the minibus, and we hold celebrations, parties and music events at White Lodge. Residents' favourite activities are the quizzes, walking group, gardening and all the food-related activities.

Activities at White Lodge

Our Activities Coordinators here at White Lodge enjoy the fulfillment of helping residents feel important and a part of something. Meaningful moments are created through laughter and comfort. A varied activities programme is offered for the betterment of residents' bodies and minds, including music for health, 'Oomph' sessions and chair Zumba, in addition to coffee and cake groups that all inevitably lead to giggles and old fashioned singalongs. Also, we organise parties, trips out, walks in the country, bus outings and wonderful entertainers to visit our home. A sneaky tipple is always welcomed with cheese and crackers and, at the end of the day, it is important to go home knowing our activities have made a difference.

Life at White Lodge Care Home

Hug The Home with Bunting Prize Winners

We had the pleasure this week of presenting the prizes from our "Hug the Home with Bunting" competition. Senior Activities Coordinator Tina Hughes presented the prizes to Laura Hilliard, Head Teacher of Brinkworth Earl Danby's CE Primary School and winners Freya and Olivia from Longleaze Primary School. We would like to thank all the children for their wonderful pictures and congratulations to the winners. The bunting has bought all the residents so much joy.

Balloon Tennis Fun and Laughs!

White Lodge combined exercise with lots of fun and laughs. Residents thoroughly enjoyed a game of balloon tennis, armed with fly swatters and balloons being thrown about. This was a great activity for exercise and improving eye-hand co-ordination, plus a lot of laughs along the way - now that's what we call a win win activity!

White Lodge in Bloom

Flower arranging is a fun, relaxing way to spend the morning with our creative residents! Bringing the outdoors in and brightening our spirits, especially on a rainy day like today, these lovely ladies created some beautiful floral arrangements to decorate the reception area, dining room and cafe lounge. White Lodge really is in bloom the arrangements really are stunning. We joked that we should start taking orders!

Rock Painting

Our creative residents at White Lodge, enjoyed sitting outside in the sunshine and painting rocks. These will go into the Sensory Garden once planting begins. Their lovely use of colour and designs will make a great addition to the garden. It was a lovely time for conversation and reminiscing, plus they will enjoy seeing their personalised rocks between the plants.

Plenty more rock painting to go, which will keep our residents busy and an excellent outlet for their artistic talents!

Hugging the Home with Bunting

A big thank you to our local schools for making it possible to “hug the home with bunting” Longleaze Primary School and Brinkworth Earl Danny’s CE Primary School sent in their colourful Easter and Spring bunting designs and we have all enjoyed the display so much we’ve kept it up in our lounges. The residents have so enjoyed looking at every flag, it was so hard for them to select a winner, it took quite some time . The winners have been announced on the White Lodge Facebook Page. Well done to all of our entries and congratulations to the winners. We look forward to awarding the prizes soon.

Happy 95th Birthday HM Queen Elizabeth II

Residents and staff at Barchester's White Lodge would like to send HM The Queen, our fondest wishes for her 95th birthday today.

Earlier in the week we painted Union Jack photo frames ready to add to the day and for the resdients' rooms to place a special photo. The end results were really effective. On the days in the Queen's honour, we decorated all the dining rooms and our residents gathered for a celebration lunch. They raised a glass to The Queen and wished her continued good health.