Celebrating life at Barchester

Recently our residents enjoyed a fantastic afternoon celebrating “National Prosecco Day” with live music from ‘Idlers Dream’ and, of course, plenty of proseccos. It was the perfect backdrop for an afternoon celebration. 

It was a lovely mix of great music, good company and shared moments that brought everyone together.    

On International Friendship Day we launched our very first monthly Chitter Chatter Club.

Our first session was full of smiles, stories and lovely conversations. It’s a warm welcoming space for everyone to connect, make new friends and enjoy a right good blether. It was great seeing the hussle and bussle of our new club, which will be open to the community to connect with our residents, family and friends! We’re already looking forward to our next meet-up!     

Our residents recently enjoyed a lovely outing, celebrating Beatrix Potter’s Birthday, to the beautiful Beatrix Potter Gardens and Museum at Birnam Arts in Birnam, Perthshire. It houses the permanent Beatrix Potter Exhibition featuring memorabilia, childhood furniture, and the history of her time in the area.

We spent time exploring the stories, characters and displays, followed by a lovely walk in the Gardens. The gardens were absolutely beautiful and a firm favourite with our residents, who said they would love to visit again. We finished off our visit by having a tasty lunch in the café.

It was a gentle, happy day out with plenty of smiles and happy memories made.      

Our wonderful residents had a fantastic time making bright paper flowers today! This fun craft is a great way to keep hands moving and boost fine motor skills while enjoying a chat and a laugh together. We love seeing their creative and colourful handmade blooms!      

Our residents had a wonderful visit from some lovely cockatiels today! Pet therapy brings so much joy, helps lower stress, and puts bright smiles on everyone's faces. It is amazing to see how our residents light up when these sweet birds sit close and chirp. Quiet chirping and soft feathers help people feel calm and peaceful. Many residents remember having pets when they were young and watching the birds keeps their minds active and alert. Seeing the birds, lifted the mood of the whole room. 

Thanks to Amber from Performing Pets for the amazing visit.         

We had an amazing summer party yesterday afternoon. The air was filled with the sound of singing, laughter and music provided by Deb and Nic.

A big shout-out to new chef Natasha for the incredible buffet and outstanding desserts. Many thanks to the honourous activities team Nicola, Tina, Dani and Clare, for their amazing gazebo building skills and to the rest of the team for their support.

Finally, to our incredible residents and their families for coming along and supporting the event.       

During our African-themed Armchair Travel event, we showcased our new Meta Quest VR headset to take residents on a virtual safari adventure. One resident called the device a "remarkable gadget!"

Residents also enjoyed a themed quiz and activity books courtesy of our friends at OOMPH! 

Finally, our home community team visited a local veterans event and had the pleasure of meeting with local veterans and community champions, including Amanda from Home Straight and Emma from Tesco Superstore.            

In August The Cedars was filled with magic moments, the fondest of memories and of inspiration for new chapters.

From individual visits to large group activities, these special moments, that often start with reminiscence, allow us to spend quality time together, finding out little nuggets of life experiences and then focusing on each residents interests, hobbies and person centred wellbeing.

Whether its sharing a conversation about what they did for a job, looking at photographs of holidays, family, our most famous moment, our most infamous moment.... 

We believe every resident deserves their moment.      

Chater Lodge activities and meaningful one-to-one engagement, provide opportunities for personalised relaxation, salon experiences and therapeutic wellbeing sessions, ensuring each day is purposeful and enriching. Our whole-home approach means that life enrichment is everyone's responsibility.

Drawing on the skills, expertise and compassion of every department including our housekeeping team, Lesley our head housekeeper took time out of her busy workday to do our ladies hairs. 

We work together to create meaningful moments that enhance quality of life and make a positive difference to every resident, every day.

Thank you Lesley, our ladies look beautiful.