Activities at Woodhorn Park Care Home

Staff and residents marked Parkinson’s Awareness Week with a bake sale.   The staff and residents spent time learning about how Parkinson’s disease can affect different parts of the brain and the body causing involuntary movements or rigidity in muscles which can then ‘freeze up’ and not work. 

Residents and staff also learned about the possible psychological impact of the medication used to treat disease which can cause compulsive behaviours and depression in some people. It can also be linked to a reduced sense of smell, impaired vision and attention deficit disorder. As well as this we ran a bake sale to raise money for Parkinson’s UK and we managed to raise £120.

Residents, family and friends enjoyed our first “live band night”. We all enjoyed the Peabody’s with singing and lots of dancing. 
The best way to keep our hearts healthy and full of joy. Residents enjoyed songs from a wide variety of genres, from country and western to Rock and Roll.

We felt like it was so important to have family and friends join us to enjoy a good old-fashioned family night out.

Residents enjoyed a fabulous afternoon out within the community at the Salvation Army. Residents enjoyed a warm welcome from MIND Active, enjoying a mouth-watering pie and peas dinner and a delicious pudding washed down with plenty of refreshments.

They then enjoyed a quiz and raffle winning a tasty little bag of sweets won by our resident, Bert, followed by live entertainment by singer Mark McCann. Residents talked about their visit all day and how much they enjoyed themselves and how they couldn't wait to visit again.  

Residents enjoyed a visit from the young ones for National Youth Day. They enjoyed crafts and painting and showing residents their electronic pets. Lots of fun and laughter being entertained by the young people.

Residents said they had a lovely afternoon. 

Residents enjoyed a fun-filled afternoon indulging themselves in some delicious sweet treats, being served by some rather unusual hosts in an unusual table-themed setting.  

Residents enjoyed seeing staff dressed up.  

Celebrations have been in full swing as one of our residents reached her centenary in style. Margaret was joined by staff, relatives, friends and other residents as she received a telegram from the King in recognition of her landmark birthday.

Margaret was a typist when she left school and always worked in offices. Margaret has 2 daughters and 1 son who she loves very much. Margaret enjoyed going on holidays and would often go away with her daughter. Margaret is a very friendly lady who enjoys to have a good chat with others about the good old days. She joined Woodhorn Park in March 2022, where she is enjoying a new chapter of her life.

The birthday girl, said: their secret to long life cups of tea.

Residents enjoyed an afternoon creating their own fruity creations to enjoy. Residents joining our session today on eating well with dementia the residents event, enjoyed a range of fruits picking out their favourites for their afternoon snack.

Everyone found the shared information helpful with plenty of simple ideas to support nutrition and wellbeing.   

Residents and staff enjoyed an afternoon ‘painting a mate’ for friendship day. Everyone enjoyed showing their own artistic flair and styles doing reflective paintings of one another.  

Everyone found this activity light-hearted and was impressed by each other's perception of each other… no offence taken!!    

Residents enjoyed taste-testing a delicious selection of chocolate.  They also enjoyed learning some fun facts about chocolate, learning that cocoa beans were once used as currency and smelling and trying some wonderful cocoa butter and learning that chocolate is also used in body care products.  

Residents enjoyed making and tasting some healthy smoothies, understanding the benefits of the fruit they were using. 

They all agreed that the smoothies were delicious and refreshing they were impressed they were full of goodness too!!

To honour the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, we immersed ourselves in poetry and the sounds of bagpipes and of course, gave the time-honoured address to the ‘Great chieftain O’ the pudding’ race’ – the haggis.

Our Head Chef Naomi addressed the Haggis reciting the poem then cut the Haggis, our very own wee “scottish lassie” had a smile from ear to ear.    

Residents smiled from ear to ear enjoying keeping fit. Yes, you heard that right residents were thoroughly engaged in this session, enjoying games of armchair kick football, basketball and tennis.  

Woodhorn invited a local group called Smiles through Sport to do a session of different group game activities, and they were not disappointed. The room was filled with laughter and everyone cheered each other on as everyone each took a turn to show off their ball skills, becoming more and more competitive as the afternoon progressed.  Great fun whilst keeping active both body and mind. We cannot wait for our next session!!      

Residents spent a lovely afternoon picnic at Plessey Wood. Residents reminisced of their childhoods riding their bikes there and camping in the woods, lovely memories.  

We enjoyed music and laughter all around.

Residents enjoyed a shark-themed experience for shark awareness day, enjoying a sensory ocean-themed room, learning some facts about sharks, followed by an adventure through the ocean in 3D.  

Our brave residents took a virtual swim with sharks using a VR headset, finishing off with a ‘taste of the ocean’ themed snacks. Residents said it was a brilliant experience for them all. 

Residents enjoyed relaxing in the ambience of some classical music tasting some different varieties of cheeses along with some complimenting wine flavours.  

Residents voted the Wensleydale with cranberries was their overall favourite!