Meet our Activities Coordinator, Amber Aspinall

Hi my name is Amber

“As head of activities, I believe in delivering events and activities that truly enrich the lives of residents and ensure they feel connected with their community. The activity team plan activities to ensure that they cater to the different resident groups and individual requirements. This can mean that one day organising a communion service or entertainers; and the next, organising boat trips and outings in the local area. Every day is different.”

I went to art college after school and I still paint regularly, I play the clarinet and can play the piano, I have previously been a children’s entertainer (mostly Disney princesses) - all of which I think have really helped with planning and delivering activities. I’ve worked with teenagers as a substance misuse counsellor which also included tailoring one to one activities to individuals.

Activities at Winchester House

Our activities team 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, including the local priory and garden centres, as well as visits from musicians, a wide range of entertainers. We are lucky enough to have a enthusiastic team of volunteers who regularly visit the home throughout the week, and our yearly pantomime is a real crowd-pleaser and is well-attended by residents, relatives and members of staff. 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, and that life at Winchester House is fun and active.

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 Winchester House Care Home

Fascinator's at the Ready

One of Britain's most well-known racecourses, Ascot holds a special week of races in June each year called Royal Ascot, usually attended by The Queen and the Royal family, who has had an interest in horses since childhood.

The Royal Ascot racing week has become Britain's most popular race meeting, welcoming around 300,000 visitors over five days, all dressed up in their finest clothes and hats

Residents and staff at Winchester House got creative and designed their own fascinators and hats.

Jubilee Celebrations

We marked the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in style with fantastic activities and royal parties.

In recognition of the special occasion, we decorated our home with bunting, beautiful flower displays and themed royal items, including flags and printed photos of the Queen through the years and iconic royal landmarks, like Windsor Castle.

To make things even more interesting, we’ve hosted our very own Royal Party where community members, families and friends were invited. Everyone enjoyed delicious sweet and savoury treats, prepared by our talented chef and his team, along with tasty cocktails and mocktails. The event was a big success.

Our festivities were fantastic and everyone was thrilled to celebrate the longest serving British monarch in style

National Carer's Week

On 7th June we started celebrating National Carers’ Week. Residents wanted to thank all the wonderful staff at the home, whose hard work and dedication make a real difference to the lives of those living in their care.

Carers Week is an annual event to raise awareness of caring, highlighting the challenges carers face, and recognising the contribution they make to our residents, families and communities throughout the UK.

This week we treated our wonderful carers to coffee, doughnuts, icecream and cake

A day at the Garden Centre

We love gardening and our gardening club here at Winchester House. Earlier this week residents enjoyed a trip to Dobbies garden centre in Gillingham. We had a lovely time choosing some flowers to decorate our garden with ready for our jubilee party next week

We then stopped and enjoyed a nice cup of tea and scones with cream and jam at Dobbies cafe before making our way back to Winchester house

Everyone had a lovely time and agreed it was nice to finally get out and about in the minibus again

Fabulous Flower Arranging

What better way to spend a morning than 'Flower Arranging'.

In addition to beautifying our surroundings, flower arranging is proven to improve manual dexterity, promotes sensory stimulation and can also reduce stress.

Fantastic news