Celebrating life at Barchester

Residents at Rose Water Place enjoyed a wonderful patriotic afternoon celebrating VE Day.    

The home was filled with music, laughter and plenty of flag waving as the lovely, talented Janet entertained everyone with songs that had residents singing along with pride. There was even a good old-fashioned knees-up, bringing back many happy memories and plenty of smiles all around!

A fantastic afternoon of togetherness, remembrance and celebration enjoyed by all.     

We had such a wonderful VE Day celebration enjoyed by everyone. 

We started off with an amazing sing along with Richard and everyone cheered for Honey's little show. 

Next was to have a chat with the gentleman from the Haworth Home guard and checkout their amazing vehicles! We went on to have a very tasty buffet and everyone went in for seconds!        

We finished off by talking about what our residents remember and carried on with a sing-along to “We’ll Meet Again” and “The White Cliff of Dover." 

Would like to thank everyone for joining us and thank you to our amazing staff for making the day as perfect as it was for everyone to enjoy!   

Friday night’s Gala was filled with great food, laughter, live music, and dancing all coming together for an incredible cause.

The generosity of everyone who attended, donated, and supported, an amazing £7,500 was raised to help purchase Patch, a therapy horse for the Chigwell Riding Trust.

This contribution means so much to the people who benefit from the Trust’s life-changing work.   

It was also a proud moment for Ashlar House, as our Administrator, Agnes, and Rita represented the team with professionalism, warmth, and exceptional networking skills throughout the evening. Rita was on camera and middling duty for the event.

We were delighted to enjoy a wonderful conversation with Neil Hudson, highlighting the importance of community engagement, partnership, and supporting local initiatives.

It was fantastic to see the community come together to celebrate commitment, leadership, and collaboration. The value of networking and raising awareness of who we are and what we do is truly invaluable.

And finally, congratulations to Agnes for winning the raffle!     

Over the years, staff have listened and learnt so much from our residents and peers about VE Day memories and experiences.

We sat alongside them listening to Paul Webster’s VE Day presentation and case studies.

We listened, absorbed, and reflected together. The session sparked so much feedback, conversation, and personal stories from everyone in the room. It was emotional, educational, and inspiring to hear individual experiences being shared so openly.

A truly engaging and educational afternoon for all.  

Our residents enjoyed an afternoon filled with wonderful music that brought back so many happy memories of the good old days. There was plenty of singing, dancing, flag waving, smiles and laughter all around! 

A huge thank you to our amazing chefs for the beautiful snacks and delicious food that everyone enjoyed. A truly special day shared together celebrating joy, friendship and wonderful memories.  

Twice a month, we take a trip to our local community, Forget me not Café in Hethersett, which is always fantastic. This time we had a lovely time singing, dancing and shaking our Pom Poms. We were joined by Louise Elder, vocalist… who sang some brilliant songs from the Beatles, ABBA, Neil Diamond and many more. We all enjoyed a nice cuppa with some tasty biscuits and had a really happy morning. It was lovely to meet some other residents from St John’s care home who also got up and danced the morning away. 

We have invited St Johns to come along to our care home in the summer.   

Here at Mulberry Court, we have been remembering the significance of the 8th of May on the 81st anniversary, as it is one of the most important days in world history. We will not forget the sacrifices made to mark VE Day!

Our residents enjoyed an afternoon tea with scones filled with cream and jam after watching a short video of the celebrations of the time for VE Day in London in 1945.

Our residents also made the most of another sunny afternoon and got out into the garden and enjoyed reminiscing all while waving the flags.      

The Mulberry Court minibus has been out on its travels again today.

At a previous residents' meeting, several people expressed a wish to visit Burnby Hall Gardens in Pocklington, so today we took a group including family members to enjoy the last day of the annual event.

"Tulip festival". Everyone had a marvellous time wandering around admiring the many types of tulips as well as all the other plants and flowers on display before tucking into a fantastic picnic especially prepared this morning by our chef Ian.

After lunch, we had another look around before browsing in the gift shop where several people purchased mementos before heading back.  

We opened our doors to the community.

We were delighted to welcome back Jeremy, whom for many of the residents at Chater Lodge it was their first time seeing him. 
From toe-tapping classics to sing-along favourites, the room was filled with smiles and laughter, with residents requests and raising the roof with ‘Sweet Caroline’.           

It was truly a fabulous morning that created many beautiful moments together. The residents can't wait for Jeremy's return.