Celebrating life at Barchester

Residents at Overslade House enjoyed traditional Burns Celebrations. Staff and residents at the home were involved in a number of activities, including Scottish Documentaries, Scottish Quizzes, watching the art of Scottish Country Dancing and the Ceilidh.  

There was live entertainment in the afternoon from One Girl and The Piano Man with songs from many Scottish Artists and, of course, Auld Lang Syne written by Robbie Burns, to mark the Scottish institution, including giving the time-honoured address to the ‘Great chieftain O’ the pudding race’ – the haggis. Our residents enjoyed a hearty meal of Scotch broth, prepared by our stellar Chef, Corey Leake. Residents were joined by friends and family and enjoyed a toast during Auld Lang Syne.

Shirley, resident of Overslade House Care Home, said: “I enjoyed the live entertainment and having lived in Glasgow in Scotland for many years, I was thrilled to sing I belong to Glasgow on the microphone and hear many familiar songs like Loch Lomond and Flower of Scotland.”       

Residents had a wonderful afternoon being entertained by Rugby School students, who are studying music at Rugby School.  Many thanks to Andrew Davey for arranging this for our residents.

The students sang and played for us, and we even heard publicly, for the first time, self-composed pieces. Andrew tells us that this student has been mentored by Hans Zimmer, a well-known German film composer and music producer.

Resident Nathan said, “It’s wonderful, absolutely beautiful." Other residents commented on how talented the students were. Once again, thank you so much to the students and Andrew Davey for a wonderful afternoon. We hope to see you again.        

Residents at Overslade House enjoyed learning about the year of the Fire Horse and discovering what animals they were. Residents and relatives watched Chinese celebrations and also enjoyed a quiz on China, while enjoying Chinese nibbles and a glass of wine.

These are some of the traditions that Have Lasted 3,000 Years:-

Before 17 Feb, The Great Sweep, every home is deep-cleaned before the new year — sweeping out bad luck, literally and symbolically. 

Red: The Colour of Everything. Red is not just a decoration — it's armour. Rooted in the legend of the Nian, a fearsome beast repelled by red and loud noise, the colour dominates doors, clothing, lanterns, and envelopes. It represents luck, joy, protection, and prosperity.

Hóngbāo (Red Envelopes) is one of the most beloved Lunar New Year traditions globally. Red envelopes — filled with money — are given by elderly and married adults to children and younger relatives. The Reunion Dinner on New Year's Eve, the most important meal of the year. Families travel across the country — across the world — to be together. 

The streets roar. Dragon dances are performed to scare away evil spirits; lion dances bring luck and protection to homes and businesses.  3 March 2026 The Lantern Festival, The grand finale. On the 15th night — the first full moon — thousands of illuminated lanterns are released or displayed. Called Yuan Xiao, it marks both the end of winter and the end of celebrations.

Residents really enjoyed learning about which animal their year of birth symbolised and their personality traits and watching the vibrant colourful displays of red and gold.     

We went out to The Greyhound Park, Chester for coffee. We were celebrating our resident Karen's birthday and Jacqui, the Activity Co - Ordinator’s lead engagement.

Our ladies had a lovely morning and are already looking forward to our next one. These trips out always make everyone feel so much happier.  

Love was in the air at Sherwood court for our annual Valentine’s Day 3-course meal which our kitchen team had prepared for them. Our lovely administrator (Lynn) activities coordinator (Tamara & Morag) and care assistant (Vikki) had prepared for this occasion and put all hands on deck for this special night in order for husbands and wives to have the most romantic and relaxed evening. The café bar is where our families and residents started off with some glasses of prosecco to celebrate. 

They then went on to the upstairs dining area where staff had decorated in order to enjoy their three-course meal. Each of our couples received gifts which our residents and Lynn had created. Vikki created our personalised table pieces which they were very much in love with and Abigail in which she was playing the piano, in order for our residents to feel at most fulfilment. Our residents and families very much enjoyed this event and are hoping for the same next year.     

To honour the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, we immersed ourselves in poetry throughout the day.

We also enjoyed the beautiful sounds of the bagpipes around the home, which our residents thoroughly enjoyed. Our talented chef put on a special Scottish menu, including haggis, tatties and shortbread.

What a great time we all had celebrating Robert Burns and the Scottish culture.

We Celebrated National Pizza day in style here at Winchester House. We first took a trip to our local supermarket to buy ingredients for making our very own pizzas.

Our residents came back and rolled up their sleeves to craft their own pizzas which they enjoyed for lunch!      

As we have been unable to go out as the weather has been so terrible, on Sunday the sun was shining so we had a great idea to jump on the mini bus and enjoy the bright weather.

We were driving through the local village and noticed an indoor boot fair taking place so we hopped off the mini bus and had a browse around the stalls.

It was a lovely outing which the residents really enjoyed!              

Arbour Court held a pancake parlour where residents had a choice of traditional toppings, such as Lemon and Sugar, Golden Syrup, Chocolate topping and raspberries.

Afterwards, we played 2 games, a pancake-flipping competition as well as using our online platform Oomph to play the game ‘Flippin’ Pancakes’–a memory recall game in which the aim of the game is to match two numbered pancakes correctly.