Celebrating life at Barchester

It was really fantastic, said our resident Lesley. We had market stalls with vendors selling handbags, plant pots, cards, jewellery, dolls and so much more. The star of the show was a hot chocolate bar selling luxury Italian hot chocolate that our residents are still talking about three days later! 

The games were great fun, including the Christmas Tree Corn Hole, Snowman Tin could be shy and guess the name of the cuddly toy. Residents were amazed at the wonderful raffle with so many prizes to be won. A visit from Santa added to the festivities. Everyone loved the treats from his sack! The fayre was a huge success with residents enjoying themselves so much and raising over £500 for the Residents Fund.        

It was a very exciting day to welcome alpacas Rio and Kiril from Big Sky Alpacas to our home. Residents loved being able to feed them carrots and feel how soft they were, also learning the difference between alpacas and llamas.

The alpaca's visit was paid for by money provided from the Residents’ Fund. This is money raised in our raffles on our Summer and Christmas fayres, that residents decide how to spend for their use and the benefit of all residents. Residents had voted overwhelmingly in our residents' meeting that they would like to see more animals in the home and Rio and Kiril were the result of that. We all agreed it was money well spent!  

Anita from End Domestic Abuse Now (EDAN) attended our monthly community coffee morning to tell us about the vital work the charity does in Lincoln. Residents listened intently as she told how the charity was formed 27 years ago in Gainsborough and serves women and children of all ages without any government funding. In Lincoln, they have an 11-unit home where clients can stay for up to six months. 

Residents were touched by the stories and were pleased to be able to launch our donation drive. We are now collecting new toys, craft items, books and puzzles for Christmas and throughout the year.      

The ladies at Ashminster house showed their creative side in a flower arranging session.

Residents cut greenery from the garden as a base, then built up the colours of there choice to make there creation.    

The roses went down very well. This activity has inspired the residents to make their own Christmas wreath in December.          

One of our residents is a keen fisherman and has spent most of his life relaxing around a fishing pond. On a trip to the garden centre he found the fish area very relaxing and therapeutic.

He now has a job where he feeds the fish at the home twice a week.      

Every Monday, residents look forward to meeting friends in the community for coffee, cake and catch-up.

There are a lot of conversations about politics, knitting, sewing and sharing memories of life at secondary school.
Many of our community friends visit on a Saturday for a knitting club.       

Our home recently did a large collection for a local food bank. We donated the donations to Kings Church. This was a great choice for us as Kings Church comes into our home monthly to give our residents a church service.  

Our resident Ambassador, Jim, went along to help hand the donations over to our Admin, Cecilia.

Jim really enjoyed helping as he had such a big heart.          

Our residents like to join in with many different games in the home. This helps them to engage with other residents and helps to keep us active.  

It is a great way to boost mental wellbeing and keeping the mind sharp. It can also provide a sense of accomplishment boosting self-esteem.  

After group games we always keep hydrated and have a cup of tea and a fine piece.        

Our residents had a fabulous time when they had a visit to Duthie Park to visit the Winter Wonder Wander.

The indoor Winter Gardens were filled with beautiful lights and lovely colourful displays. We enjoyed wandering through the gardens having a chat and making new memories. 

We had to warm up in the café with a hot chocolate and a cake in the café.