Celebrating life at Barchester

It's World Menopause Day! 

A day dedicated to breaking the stigma and highlighting the support available to improve health and well-being for those experiencing menopause.

What better day to announce the next Menopause Cafe Wimborne will take place at Hyacinth House, 28th November 6.30pm-8pm, hosted by Rona Jones and Nicki Curtis. 

Rona said “For many people, menopause is a long road and one that still isn’t talked about very much, although there has been more media coverage recently. I believe that we have much to gain by sharing our experiences and so, inspired by a BBC documentary on the menopause, I am setting up a local Menopause Café for people to meet up and chat over tea and cake in a safe, non-judgemental space.”

This is a completely free event including refreshments! 

For more information search Facebook for "Menopause Cafe Wimborne"; they have a public page and a private group. https://www.menopausecafe.net/

Tickets are available on Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/.../menopause-cafe-wimborne...

Cheers! We are rejoicing the King’s Coronation at Elgar Court, and although we may not be fully open yet, we all celebrated early with a glass of fizz (it was sparkling elderflower).

We cannot wait to see everyone’s posts on their own unique way of celebrating this historic event. Don’t forget to tag us in on Facebook pages with #elgarcourt to be selected for an afternoon Cream Tea and Prosecco!

Best wishes to all and God Save the King!

Why not make an appointment to visit our Marketing suite and see how we can care for you or a loved one? Please contact us on: 07827 065 873

Win an afternoon Cream Tea & Prosecco for four people

For a chance to win, Tag us on your Facebook page with the picture of you enjoying this wonderful historic event, or email your picture to us.   We can’t wait to see them!

Closing date - Tuesday 9 May 2023.   Your entries need to tag Elgar Court on your Facebook page, or emailed to: naomi.steward@barchester.com

For more information, please click here for the leaflet >> Elgar Court (barchester.com)

Our new Marketing Suite had a very busy Open Weekend showing people our beautiful new home.   Our visitors enjoyed looking around the suites their loved ones can move into this summer, and were impressed with what they saw and what will be offering our residents.   

The Barchester hospitality team made a wonderful selection of home made cakes and drinks for everyone to enjoy over questions about the care we will offer and the delightful lifestyle in our home. 

Naomi, the Home Services Advisor said, “We were delighted to see so many people this weekend and finally meet them in person!  It is so important to continue to build  a great relationship with our clients, and we are looking forward to them moving in this summer.   Thank you everyone for coming to see us”.

Our Marketing Suite will be open by appointment five days a week.  Please do contact us to discuss your needs and arrange to show you around and the Elgar Court Team will look forward to meeting you.  Pictured from left to right are:  Kirsty Brook, Administration Manager, Naomi Steward, Home Services Manager, Liz Brooks, Deputy Manager and Sarah Cadwallader, General Manager of Elgar Court.

For more information visit our website: Elgar Court Care Home in Malvern| Barchester Healthcare or call us on: 01684 880447

Staff and residents at Barchester’s Spen Court Care Home in Heckmondwike were treated to a chocolate extravaganza courtesy of Ellie Prail and Paul Vernon from one of the world’s best-known confectionery companies, Nestlé.

Residents and patients were invited to think back as far as 1904 when Nestlé first started to sell chocolate bars and how the company was involved in the development of milk chocolate as far back as 1875. Ellie and Paul hosted a fascinating talk about how Nestlé Confectionery was first created and how the company has grown over time to become one of the biggest chocolate manufacturers in the world. Residents were taken on a virtual tour of one of its factories to see Easter egg production in full swing. There was an interactive quiz where residents put their chocolate knowledge to the test before Ellie and Paul gave a demonstration on decorating Easter cookies, which everyone then got to sample.

Kim Leadbeater, local MP for Spen and Batley to converse and spend time with our residents and families.

Kim Leadbeater, joined residents of the home for our monthly Dementia Café. Celebrations included a stunning buffet provided by Mick our Head Chef.

General Manager at Nicole Benn said: “It was lovely to have Kim Leadbeater here for the day. The residents were delighted that she was able to visit us and join in on the day. We all had a wonderful day and we hope that Kim will come to see us again soon!”

Join Mortain Place Care Home on Saturday 15th April at 2:30 pm for High Tea or a tour any time in the day.
Too book for a tour contact Gailynne on 01323 465150 or email on gailynne.peters@barchester.com

*Valentines Day Celebrations*

Valentine's Day is the last day of Valentine's Week. People pamper their significant other, crush or potential partner on this day with grand gestures, gifts, romantic dates, and more to express their love. Some people also mark Valentine's Day as a self-love day and indulge themselves by splurging on self-care or participating in activities they love. Whether single or not, Valentine's Day is all about being in love and celebrating love.

We celebrated this day of love with a beautiful romantic walk in the mist this morning. Then this afternoon the OLR Choir sang beautiful ballades, this was joined by family and friends. Everyone then moved into the dining room for afternoon snacks especially prepared with LOVE by our chef Mia.

Last week saw the introduction of Barchester’s ‘Fall Fighter’ campaign in association with RoSPA and Elgar Court Care Home are on a mission to fight falls within our local community!

Falls are the single biggest cause of accidental injuries in the home, and sadly the largest cause of accidental death among over-65s in the UK.  Falls have a huge impact on people’s lives – from physical injuries, poor mental health, loss of mobility, loneliness, social isolation and loss of independence. Unfortunately, falls also have a huge impact on our society, costing the NHS and wider healthcare systems over £4billion every year.

The Fall Fighter movement has been developed with the aim of creating a global fall fighting community and we want YOU to join us!

Home Services Advisor Naomi has been out and about in the local community today delivering the awareness session to Community Action Malvern and District’s Chief Officer Kate Walton and her team.    Kate said ‘Thank you Naomi - I’ve taken away some really useful tips that I can pass on to those that use our services’

The team at Elgar Court will be visiting local groups and organisations over the coming weeks to continue delivering the importance of this campaign and how we can all make a real difference.  Please contact us if you would like us to visit your organisation.

Our Spooky event was a howling success!  Residents, staff and visiting guests got into the ghoulish spirit, and joined in the party games and dancing with live singing entertainment.  Residents commented, 'We are so lucky to have amazing support and we are already really looking forward to the next party!'

We had a lovely time joining Angela Cobbin for a theatre-inspired virtual talk about her book ‘My Name is Not Wigs’.               ‘My Name Is Not Wigs’ is the ultimate read for fans of witty behind-the-curtains memoirs, especially those with a penchant for the bright lights of stage and screen: tears and accolades aplenty                                                                                        

Angela shared interesting facts with our residents about her book, her life and her experiences as a wig creator in London’s West End in celebration of World Theatre Day.

We couldn't have wished for a better day to celebrate the opening of our new home at our Summer Garden Party! The sun was shining, the "sparkly" flowing and with stalls and entertainment on offer and all safely held, a great time was had by all!

An exciting new scheme is being rolled at Ashchurch View to try and keep residents engaged in active and meaningful activities during lockdown.

Children from Japan who are studying English have been sharing information in their letters about their hobbies, how they are finding studying English in school, their favourite foods, places, what they like to eat, and asking residents lots of questions.

We have received the first bundle of letters & gifts from the school children, and we’ve been very excited to show these to residents.

It’s a really special way for residents at the home to stay connected with their Pen pals, and we are looking forward to sitting down and helping to write letters back to the children.

Before COVID-19 came along, we had weekly visits by children from the nearby St Catherine’s Primary School. They cannot visit at the moment, so we have established a pen pal scheme with them.

The children have sent us cards, drawings and letters. We have watched their nativity play on our tablets and enjoyed both seeing and hearing the children.

At the moment, class 4 is learning about farming in Cornwall, and they have written letters with lots of questions for us. We write back to them while we spend time chatting and reminiscing about farming or wherever our thoughts and memories take us.

Moors Manor has been lending a helping hand to NHS staff at St Leonards Hospital as they start their COVID-19 vaccination programme.

It’s been great to be able to offer our car park to the hard working staff from the hospital to allow more space for those attending their vaccine appointment. The team have been out in all weathers making sure that the traffic marshals have hot drinks and helping out however they can.

The team have also put together treat bags for the NHS staff to say thank you, which were left on their cars for when they finished their shift, the home has had great feedback from the hospital team, with several nurses visiting Moors Manor to say thank you and comment on how appreciated they feel.

This week’s Virtual Classroom session was a Christmas-themed Winter Wonderland. The students at Coopersale Theydon Garnon School created a fun Christmas quiz for our residents, which lead to reminiscing about Christmas past, as well as a wider discussion on seasonal holidays, including Hunukkah. It was a fun and informative exploration of the season!

Although our residents have been keeping in touch with their families with garden visits, zoom calls, Facetime and telephone calls, they have also been writing to their families in 'the old fashioned way'. 

With pictures and news, we are sure their families will treasure these letters. Keeping in touch with loved ones is so important in these unprecedented times.

Birthdays may be celebrated a little differently at the moment, but with plenty of banners, balloons and cake, we have been able to make magical memories during resident garden visits.