Celebrating life at Barchester

Christmastime is always a busy and creative period at Queens Court. We were delighted to begin our festive calendar with Christmas card making, an activity that our residents truly enjoyed.

Residents took great pleasure in expressing their creativity—some chose to design and make their own cards, while others preferred selecting from a wide range of ready-made cards. We ensured there was plenty of choice so everyone could find something they loved.

The activity not only encouraged creativity but also brought lots of smiles, conversation, and festive cheer. It was a wonderful way to start the Christmas season and spread love and joy to family and friends.  

We are so lucky to be surrounded by a wonderful local community who love to visit Queens Court. We enjoyed many performances and live concerts from different groups. It made us very happy to see our residents connecting with the local community. Everyone enjoyed the performances, followed by a friendly chat with residents, which made the day even more special.

We also received many beautiful hampers from the community. A heartfelt thank you to everyone for your kindness and generosity — it truly means a lot to our residents.          

This year’s Christmas light switch-on at Queen’s Court was a truly wonderful event. The lights were switched on by the Mayor of Merton, Martin Whelton. Everyone enjoyed a lovely afternoon with a live violin concert and delicious refreshments prepared by our Head Chef.

We were also pleased to welcome representatives from the local police, whom we would like to thank for their support. Most importantly, our residents had an amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed the celebration.       

Our interactive Nativity Story was great fun. There were bible readings, poems, songs and limericks to listen to and tell us the story of why we celebrate Christmas. Residents, staff, visitors and students joined in to make it a fun afternoon. 

Having traditions is part of the joy of Christmas, and we have lots of them at Kernow House.

Our staff and residents joined in with St Mary's choir to sing our hearts out for Christmas. 

With mulled wine and mince pies, a wonderful evening was had by us all.   

Our dear residents, relatives and friends joined us for our 2025 Christmas Party. We had a delicious buffet with the tastiest nibbles and curry. Families all enjoyed taking part in our big Christmas Quiz followed by a wonderful afternoon of music by Jane Beaumont. 

Everyone got up on the dance floor and showed off their dance moves. Our Choir sang together many carols and made so many memories with their loved ones.  

We had a truly wonderful afternoon this week celebrating our residents' and family's Christmas party, filled with laughter, music, and festive cheer.

The fun began with a surprise visit from a reindeer wandering around the home — brilliantly played by one of our staff members! It was absolutely hilarious and had everyone smiling and laughing, setting the perfect tone for the afternoon and getting everyone into the Christmas spirit. We then enjoyed our residents’ Christmas party, where everyone relaxed with a glass of sherry or Baileys and tucked into a delicious buffet prepared by our chef.

We were delighted to welcome the lovely Beaver group from Southwell, who performed for us and sang beautiful Christmas carols. The residents thoroughly enjoyed it, sitting with big smiles on their faces and making sure to tell the children just how much they loved the performance.

To say thank you, we made sure the children had plenty of cake before they left, while they chatted with our residents — a really heart-warming moment and a perfect end to a lovely evening. A truly special Christmas celebration for everyone involved.  

We enjoyed a lovely minibus trip out to Southwell Methodist Church to visit their wonderful Christmas Tree Festival. 

The church was filled with a spectacular collection of Christmas trees, each beautifully and imaginatively decorated by local schools, community groups and businesses. Every tree had its own unique theme, and it was a joy to explore them all.

We took our time walking around, admiring the creativity on display, and afterwards we sat together with a nice cup of tea or coffee to round off the morning perfectly.

It was especially lovely to have family and friends join us — sharing the experience made it feel even more festive. The residents commented on how nice the trip was and how much they enjoyed the outing.

We celebrated Elf Day in the most joyful way — with lots of laughter, music, and plenty of festive spirit! Our staff came dressed as elves, bringing smiles to everyone’s faces. The residents thought it was absolutely hilarious.

In the afternoon, we were lucky enough to have the wonderful children from Halam Primary School visit us. They sang their hearts out and put on the loveliest performance. There were classic Christmas songs that everyone knew and happily joined in with, as well as a few new ones that the residents really enjoyed hearing. The room was filled with singing and many happy faces.

A small group of children also kindly visited one of our residents in her room and sang by her bedside. 
It was a truly beautiful and touching visit, and something we will all remember. Our residents have not stopped talking about how amazing the children were — it really was a wonderful afternoon filled with festive cheer.