Activities at Henford House Care Home

Aprils Pudding Club was an exciting eventful day!

Head of Maintenance Colin Marsh at Henford House is taking part in the Ride-100 cycle race across London and Essex to raise money for Barchesters Charitable Foundation which supports hundreds of vulnerable individuals and small charities in local communities, helping to prevent isolation and loneliness.  Colin is a keen cyclist but admits it has been a while since he took on a challenge this big!  The 100-mile challenge is one of the uks most famous challenge rides, taking place on Sunday 26th May this year.  We are all very proud of Colin and wish him luck and  to support Colin we had a day of fun in Henford where everyone could do some cycling! The bikes came in and throughout the day staff, residents and relations peddled like mad! The sponsor form is filling and donations are greatly appreciated.  The reward for all the cycling was to indulge in the delicious puddings brought in for this month’s pudding club, the theme this month was Colin the Caterpillar, we thank all involved who took part to make the day such fun.

Residents and staff enjoyed a talk delivered by Iain and Harriet who are volunteers saving the toads along Lower Marsh Road by Smallbrook Meadows which is the road where Henford House care home is in Warminster.  The slide show demonstrated everything you need to know and learn about the toads and the importance of their existence.  The group of volunteers is expanding showing a passion to move the toads in to a more quiet environment to live a quiet life especially at the time of breeding.  Many toads are destroyed along the road due to traffic and Toad Patrol are currently applying for the road to become access only at the time of breeding and they are gaining more and more signatures daily to support this application.  The residents and staff found the talk and slide show absolutely fascinating and also feel very strong of the importance to help save the toads.

The weather is now getting brighter and is really encouraging to get out and about, over the last few weeks our residents have been very keen to visit our local garden centre in Crocker ton, on arrival you walk through one of many areas displaying beautiful flowers and shrubs to buy which always sparks discussion as some of the residents may have grown these or been very fond of some of these.  Always a tea/coffee cake stop at the lovely café where all the staff are so accommodating and a look around the shop if anyone wants to purchase anything and if the weather is dry then a walk around the lake to see the ducks and geese.  Another resident was very keen to join a local chat café which we have managed to find and do.  Being amongst the community and meeting new people is so wonderful and our resident has kept it up and now making new friends and really looks forward to it.

The weather was kind and the sun shone for the children to attend the Easter Egg Hunt at Henford House on Saturday morning.  It was so lovely to see so many families arrive, Henford House has offered the egg hunt to the community for a number of years and was great to see some families return and see the children growing up!  Many chocolate eggs, baby chicks and bunnies were hidden all around the garden.  The children lined up with their bags ready to hunt. The residents enjoyed watching all the children running around the garden from the lounge windows.  They successfully found all the chocolate and were very pleased with themselves. Well-deserved drinks and cakes were enjoyed back inside the home and the children spoke with the residents showing what they had found.

The Delightful Debbie at Henford House has received a prestigious 10 Year Service Award in celebration of working at Barchester Healthcare for ten years.

Debbie started working as the Activities Coordinator in March 2014, and has worked to build a tremendous programme of activities for the residents here. This includes visits from exuberant entertainers and amazing animals; weekly sports, crafts and groups, and terrific trips to all sorts of destinations. More than anything, Debbie brings fun and joy to the residents of Henford House!

Trish Alton, General Manager of Henford House said: “We’re delighted to be celebrating 10 years of loyal service with Henford House. Debbie demonstrates her dedication and loyalty to Henford House and its residents year after year. I speak for all of the residents and staff here when I say that I’m looking forward to many more years of sharing fun and laughter with Debbie!”

Henford House was blooming with many flowers for Valentine’s day following a Barchester virtual talk on flower arranging. The residents spent a whole afternoon putting what they learnt from the talk in to practice to make beautiful dining table decorations.  On Valentine’s day a few of the residents invited their wives and husbands to join them to enjoy a delicious lunch together and to appreciate all the beautiful flowers on display and gave their loved one a red rose. It was so wonderful to see the love shared.