Celebrating life at Barchester

Residents Henry, Jenny, June and Rita had the pleasure to attend the Christchurch British Legion Festival of Remembrance Concert performed by The Band of the Royal British Legion Christchurch at Christchurch Priory. What made this more special for the residents was that our Home Services Advisor Laura was in the band so they were treated to the VIP treatment with seats right at the front to get the best view.

What a wonderful evening it was for everyone as they got to listen to a selection of music from Military Marches, Glen Miller, Classical and Film. Residents were able to take part in the Act of Remembrance where they had local Standard Bearers and listened to the Last Post being played by the solo trumpeter. For the finale residents then were entertained with the Ringwood Pipe Band joining the band for the final few pieces which nearly raised the roof off the church!!

A fantastic evening and was enjoyed by everyone in the audience.

This week's minibus outing took our ladies Jean, Jenny, Lynda and Olive to Haskins as it was such a big hit last week we wanted to take more of our residents to see the beautiful displays they had. As always we made time for a cup of tea and cake to rest our legs after having a good walk around the home. Residents all shared their favourite colour schemes when decorating the tree and the popular choice was the classic red and gold.

Residents have started to get into the spooky spirit by decorating our pumpkins which we have displayed around the café in the home. Jo our activities coordinator wanted to do something a little bit different this time so went into the garden and collected different leaves and flowers which residents then used to stick onto the pumpkins. Residents did a fantastic job and I think you will all agree how great they look.

Did you know we offer regular outings for our residents? 

This week our wonderful ladies asked if they could browse through some clothing and Christmas items. This prompted a mid-week trip to Dobbies! We boarded our minibus and reminisced as we travelled through Northampton town centre and the residents commented on the changes in the area since they last visited. 

Once we arrived at Dobbies we were greeted by friendly staff and the ladies could shop to their hearts content. We browsed through clothing sections, shoe sections and then made it to the Christmas aisles. We were amazed at the selection of items on offer and couldn't help but sing along to the carols playing. 

Our Residents has a wonderful time and returned with new clothes and decorations ready to grace our Christmas trees.

Supporting residents to enjoy outings, clothes shopping, meals out and other trips is a key aspect of the weekly activities calendar. 

We had the very talented Steve Linn come in to the home to entertain everyone and he certainly did just that! Residents and staff were all dancing, singing and having a wonderful time. Here are just a few of the photos that were taken but we certainly had the party going here at Moors Manor!!

We look forward to Steve coming in again very soon.

Residents Bryan, Henry, June and Marianne enjoyed a lovely afternoon out to Royal Oak, North Gorley. Everyone enjoyed a chilled drink, took in the beautiful scenery and got to find out more about each other. It was very peaceful and what was lovely was that we got to see the famous New Forest ponies and also saw a few cows and donkeys as well.

Everyone all enjoyed going to the pub so we will make sure to come again very soon.

Residents enjoyed going back to Riding for the Disabled - Wilton Group for tea with the ponies. Our residents Jenny, Maud, Robert and Rita had an amazing time meeting the horses and staff. We were also joined by Maud's family who met us there and also got to share the experience too.

This time our residents got to groom and walk with ponies while the staff also shared wonderful stories about each pony.

Afterwards we all enjoyed a wonderful afternoon tea which was prepared for us by the volunteers and had a fun afternoon together.

Residents enjoyed an afternoon of grins with live music performance from the fantastic Steve Linn. Steve performed a selection of classic hits from Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Cliff Richard and many more.

Residents joined in with the singing, and clapped along as the singer performed their finale song Sweet Caroline which had everyone singing and dancing along. The hospitality team at the home also provided a spread of sweet treats for guests to enjoy during the show.

One resident said “I haven’t heard some of these songs in many years. The classics never go out of style!”

We look forward to Steve performing again very soon.

AHOY MATEY!

This week our residents at Flowerdown hopped on the minibus and were taken to the historic dockyard at Portsmouth where they set off on a boat trip from Gunwharf Quays. 

Our residents donned their life jackets, took their seats and enjoyed the beautiful boats that were passing by. 

The sun was high in the sky, the waves were tumbling and there was a slight breeze to ease the hot summer sun. 

It was such a treat so much so, some residents wanted to go again AND faster!

We had a very special day here in the home as our lovely Ivan celebrated his 90th Birthday. We held an afternoon tea party where his family and friends also joined us for the celebrations. The dining team made scones with jam and cream and a rather spectacular Victoria sandwich which were enjoyed by everyone. For entertainment we had the wonderful Bournemouth Concert Brass who played a selection of songs which had everyone singing and tapping their toes along too.

Happy 90th Birthday Ivan from everyone here at Moors Manor.

Today's minibus outing took us to the beautiful Compton Acres where we took a walk around the gardens and admired all the different plants they had. We then finished our trip with a visit to the café for a well-deserved drink and cake and we bumped into our friends from sister home Upton Bay Care Home - Barchester Healthcare who were also there for a visit.

It was a lovely afternoon and we will certainly come back again soon.

Wimborne knows how important our residents wellbeing is, which helps them live a fulfilled and enriched life. We completed a 20 mile walk in support of the Cycling Without Age trust that takes our residents out and about on the island. Our team here at Wimborne marched our way through golf courses, woodland, up some steep hills and finished the trek along the famous Billy Trail on the island. We were all absolutely shattered but we cheered up as soon as we saw our residents on the trike for the last half mile. Wimborne is all about Community and we couldn't be prouder to be part of this one!

Residents and staff at Moors Manor, laced up their trainers and warmed-up for the Table Tennis Tournament with our sister home Parley Place Care Home - Barchester Healthcare

Staff and residents took park in the tournament to see who would be the overall champions. Residents in team Moors were Pamela, Brian, Rita, Jean and team captain Jo, for Parley it was Shirley, Ivor, Carolina, Beryl and team captain Nick. The matches begun with Moors taking a lead but in the end it went 3 wins for Parley with 2 wins for Moors making Parley the overall winners.

We will be planning a re match here at Moors in a few weeks’ time where we plan to be the winners!!

Here at Flowerdown, we know how important it is to develop intergenerational relationships between communities and residents. Our friends at Finkley Weeke Pre School and Nursery paid a visit to our residents where they delighted in storytelling, magic tricks and Oscar winning performances of song and dance. Lots of giggling and mischief was had and we wouldn't have it any other way!

We launched our new Enable system in the home, which is where we have now transitioned over to electronic care planning. As always when we start something new and exciting in the home we then need to have a party to celebrate and boy did we celebrate!

We had entertainment from Nigel Revill - Lone Reveller Music who performed a variety of songs which as you can see residents and staff all were dancing along too. Our hospitality team provided us with a wonderful buffet of sweet and savoury treats which everyone enjoyed.

It was a wonderful afternoon with lots of laughter and fun.

Donations made to Pets As Therapy (https://petsastherapy.org/), also gifted some toys and goodies for our wonderful Volunteer Mike and his adorable Therapy Dog Monty!

All the residents always look forward to and enjoy their weekly visits by Monty!