Celebrating life at Barchester

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside ...
Some of our residents voted for a coastal visit , so their wish is our command and off we hopped to beautiful Bexhill.

The sky was the bluest of blues and without a cloud , perfect for a stroll and a breath of Sea air .

We wrapped up warm as there was a nip in the air but that didn't deter the spring in our step or the smiles on our faces.

Our art class is a great way to relax and let your creative juices flow. 
Residents recently joined us for some still life painting and got straight to it , creating some rather nice pieces of art.
Even the inexperienced residents gave Picasso a run for his money and enjoyed the social aspect of chatting and painting. 

Walking is great for mind, body and soul. The benefits of fresh air and exercise are very well known and you can't deny the great feeling you get from being surrounded by nature and friends. 
Activities coordinator Megan and care assistant Claire led the walking club this week and I think they had just as much fun as the residents. 

Staff and residents took part in traditional celebrations to mark Passover which this year began on April 12th and ends on April 20th.

Eva Proctor, a resident, said: “It is wonderful that we are able to keep up these very special traditions and celebrate holy days and festivals from all religions. It has been a lovely few days.  I very much enjoyed working with The Chev to make up the Seder plate and to hear about life in their homes at present. They also told us of the story of the Exodus from Egypt, that is always my favourite part of Passover.”
 

Our residents and staff recently supported Activities Assistant Kath Cork in a sponsored silence to raise money for the Barchester Healthcare Charitable Foundation. Known as the most talkative team member, Kath took on the challenge as part of a companywide fundraising event, raising over £16,500. 

We enjoyed testing Kath with questions throughout the day, with resident Christine commenting, “you’ll never stay quiet all day!” But, armed with a whiteboard and pen, Kath resisted all temptation to talk. “It was so hard – never again!” she laughed.

Barchester Healthcare Regional Directors also joined the fun, swapping suits for aprons in a competitive charity cook-off. Crandon Springs’ own Regional Director, Isabela Andriuca, was on the winning team with colleague Claire Brewer.

General Manager Megan Cleal said, “Our residents enjoyed testing Kath and her struggle to stay silent provided much amusement. But, as Pat said, “It’s not the same without hearing Kath’s lively chatter”. We’re proud of Kath but glad things are back to normal! Thanks to everyone who helped raise funds for The Barchester Foundations which is such a great cause.”

Highfield was full of animal mischief when Joe's Owl Encounters Exotic Zoo paid a visit with - Mr Bubbles and Colin.  Animal therapy sessions are designed to stimulate and engage while promoting mental well-being.

Resident Patricia was very excited by Mr Bubbles and Colin: “As a child I used to love all the animals on the nearby farm. "Today was very enjoyable, and it was wonderful that the animals were happy to be stroked by so many of us.”  
 

Our recently hosted an engaging event featuring local historian Jay Naylor. Jay presented a series of films and spoke about the rich history of Ketton and the surrounding area, incorporating Super 8 video technology to bring the past to life.

Among the historical events Jay discussed was the Queen's visit in 1967, which was captured on a Super 8 camera by Jay's great-grandfather and preserved in remarkable quality. Jay also shared his recent campaign to save the local redwood trees and his passionate project to plant a new grove of these iconic trees for future generations.
 

Every Thursday morning at 11.30am Lee, health and wellbeing coordinator from Arsenal in the Community runs a strength and balance session at Cheverton Lodge. The sessions specifically emphasises falls prevention and improving stability. Residents look forward to the sessions with Lee and really benefit from the sessions he delivers.

To join our weekly sessions please contact us for more information.

Today, we enjoyed a lovely day out in our local community.

In the morning, we visited our friends at All Saints in Newmarket for our senior coffee morning, where our residents had a delightful time chatting over coffee and singing along to some familiar tunes.

In the afternoon, we headed to Tesco in Milton for a bit of shopping. We were pleased to receive a generous donation from the Community Champion, which will be added to our residents’ bingo prize collection.

It was a truly enjoyable day, filled with smiles, great conversations, and the joy of being out and about.

We were delighted to have Heather from Compassionate Hands come for a taster session for our residents and guests.

Thank you Heather the event went so well that we are looking forward to another visit soon.

Easter has arrived at Ashlar House!

Our home is looking beautifully with vibrant Easter decorations all around! Residents got creative, making a wonderful Easter poster collage, with a big thank you to Stella from Creative Mojo for the support.

We ended the afternoon on a high with a lovely mini-Easter concert by the fabulous Kitty. She also made her rounds to personally chat with residents, handing out sweet mini Easter eggs and thoughtful cards, such a heart-warming touch!

Springtime joy is definitely in the air at Ashlar House!

We’re thrilled to announce a major milestone for Ashlar House—our transition to digital care planning is complete! As of today, 07/04/2025, our dedicated team is officially live on Enable, marking the end of our journey with paper-based care plans.

This achievement reflects the hard work, adaptability, and forward-thinking mindset of our incredible staff. The move to Enable means faster access to vital information, improved communication, and more time to focus on what truly matters: delivering outstanding care to our residents.

There’s a real sense of excitement in the air as the team celebrates this step into a more efficient and connected future. The light at the end of the tunnel never looked so sweet! 

Exciting news! After keeping it under wraps since October, we finally got to see #thehoppinessproject with ALIVEgardening on The One Show last night!! 

Our residents found the experience both enlightening and fun, especially enjoying the beer at the end! A big shout-out to Dennis and Dr. Gupta for their incredible contributions to The Hoppiness Project, even commenting that it has given their lives some meaning. Cheers to that! 

Thank you to Guy from ALIVEgardening and Alive Activities and to Karen from the University of Bristol Brigstow Institute for letting us be a part of The Hoppiness Project.

Festivities were in full swing at Crandon Springs recently as our lovely resident and former ballet dancer, Emma, celebrated her 104th birthday.

Surrounded by family, friends, fellow residents, and staff, Emma enjoyed a day filled with cake, gifts, and a joyful chorus of “Happy Birthday.”

Emma has lived a remarkable life, including working as a ballet dancer in the theatre and as an ambulance driver during World War II, aged just 18. Her wartime memories have even featured in national press and publications and the National Services Museum in Sheffield.

To honour Emma’s dancing past, local ballet student Megan recently performed a special piece for residents, earning warm applause and flowers from Emma herself.

Meg Cleal, General Manager, said: “Emma is a cherished member of our Crandon Springs family. Her stories inspire us all and reflect the importance of sharing experiences, something we value deeply through our life enrichment programme.”

Residents have been busy working on creating colourful fish which members of the community are being asked to decorate for use in some of the flower displays for the Salisbury Cathedral Flower Festival: 'Spirit of Water', which will be on from the 13th - 18th May. Residents have now completed 80 fish which will be handed in to the Cathedral this week as our contribution to the festival, and residents will be visiting the festival as well and will hope to identify some of their fish on display!  

For anyone not able to visit the festival, we will be creating our own display to coincide with the festival in our gallery area, so do stop by and have a look.  But we are not stopping there as our More Than Just a Gardener, Caroline, is also collaborating on an exhibit and has asked us to join in creating some of the decorative items for her display, so we are excited on both fronts to be participating in such a fantastic event. 

Residents, family and friends joined together to celebrate all the special ladies; sisters, aunts, godmothers and more on Mother’s Day. With the sun shining on what was also the first day of British Summer Time and making it feel like spring had definitely arrived, it was especially lovely to see so many family members and friends visiting the home. 

There was a special Mother's Day lunch with a fabulous traditional Sunday roast cooked by our Head Chef Kevin and his team. The dining room and tables looked festive and spring-like and, with a floral theme, it was wonderful to have so many tables booked in our conservatory, as well as full dining rooms and to hear the chat and laughter around the home.

We had the privilege of hosting the Falls Prevention Team from Sirona at Cadbury Hall. It was an enlightening experience as we were introduced to the 'Step Today Exercise Programme' (STEP). 

Participants enjoyed an engaging session where we learned how to perform various exercises aimed at increasing strength and balance, particularly for those who may find it challenging to get out and about. The STEP program is specifically designed for individuals at risk of falls and those who are becoming less active.

Did you know that one in three people over 65 and half of people over 80 experience a fall each year? The risk of falling increases as we age. Fortunately, research indicates that simple lifestyle changes can significantly prevent falls, enhance independence, and ultimately improve our quality of life.

At Cadbury Hall, we are committed to implementing the principles of this program into our exercise offerings, ensuring a balance of fun and fitness. Our goal is to empower our community, making every step a step towards greater confidence and safety.

Here at Washington Grange we celebrated Mother's Day in style by having a fulfilling day, starting with a singer in our downstairs lounge, then followed by an afternoon tea with all their loved ones. 

All the ladies and mams had a fantastic day celebrating on Mother’s Day surrounded by their friends and the ones they love. They all received a lovely gift and enjoyed being treated specially.

This month here at Washington Grange, two of our lovely gentlemen, Ron and Albert, celebrated their birthdays the same day. 

They enjoyed their special day with homemade cakes made by our lovely cook Lisa, who they shared with their family and friends. Ron was his 85th birthday and Albert was his 80th. They got spoilt by all their families and made to feel so special on their special occasion.

Staff and residents at Barchester Newton House care home in Grantham, ventured out to Grantham College and university centre as part of the Leisure and Tourism course they deliver. Residents stepped on board ‘Grantham Air’ as they travelled to beautiful Hawaii. After check-in, we were all aboard for the safety talk, followed by some tasty refreshments served by the ‘Grantham Air’ flight attendants.

Halfway through the flight, the duty-free trolley made its way down the aisle as residents and students listened to some summer-themed music.

Head of Activities, Karen Olivant, said: ‘We would like to say a huge thank you to the travel and tourism lecturer, Renee, for organising such a fun experience for our residents to enjoy, and a huge thank you to her incredible leisure & tourism students for their hospitality and hard work.

Resident Jean said ‘that was a really pleasant morning, and very much appreciated’. Intergenerational relationships are the connections between people of different age groups. They are important and have many positive benefits, including; improving health, happiness, and the quality of life of both children and older adults. They also bring a sense of identity, provide a unique perspective on life, promote support, and foster a better community.

We would like to say a huge thank you to the incredible Michelle, and her super-talented students from Grantham School of Dancing. 

Residents were delighted to welcome the students into their home for a spectacular dance performance and the girls were outstanding! 

With individual performances, there were many smiles and happy tears spread throughout the room. We would also like to thank their wonderful mothers for taking the time out of their special day to enable this wonderful afternoon to happen.

The performances really brought everyone together and created the most beautiful atmosphere for all.

We were absolutely delighted with our first visit to the “Dementia Choir”, which is held at Fulbeck Village and run by the incredible Jo Taylor and her wonderful volunteers from Shine Lincolnshire.

As soon as we walked through the doors of the Village Hall, we knew that we were in for a fabulous morning!

Singing and dancing along to much-loved songs from Dolly Parton to Tony Christie, being part of the Dementia Choir was just brilliant!

Resident Mike said, “This is amazing, and very well run. I shall be coming back here!”

During the singing we were treated to delicious refreshments, including yummy fruit, cakes & biscuits!

We also met lots of fabulous people, which was just amazing!

Residents at Southerndown in  enjoyed a delightful visit to Enstone’s Garden Club Flower Show, held at the village hall in Enstone. 

The annual show is a much-loved event and a highlight in the local gardening calendar, showcasing beautiful blooms and creative talents of the village.

The visit was a heart-warming reminder of the joy that community events bring, and the residents left feeling inspired and uplifted by the colourful displays and warm village atmosphere. Mary, a resident at Southerndown added: “It was a lovely afternoon, we were so happy to enjoy that little snippet of village life again.”

Residents and staff have been getting ready for a wonderful gardening season! They’re starting by planting flower and vegetable seeds in the new greenhouse, which will later be transferred to raised flower beds. This is a fantastic way to get a head start on the growing season and create a vibrant garden. 

It’s not just about the plants, but gardening also brings people together and makes the summer even more enjoyable.