Celebrating life at Barchester

Ronni, our beloved resident, recently celebrated her 90th birthday with a delightful afternoon tea. The event was filled with joy as she was surrounded by fellow residents, sharing laughter and stories. Adding to the festivities, her two grandsons and granddaughter-in-law joined the celebration, creating a warm family atmosphere.    

It was a heartwarming occasion, honouring not just her milestone age but also the cherished relationships she has built over the years. Everyone enjoyed delicious treats, and the air was filled with love and appreciation for Ronni’s remarkable journey.     

Ronni, our beloved resident, recently celebrated her 90th birthday with a delightful afternoon tea. The event was filled with joy as she was surrounded by fellow residents, sharing laughter and stories. Adding to the festivities, her two grandsons and granddaughter-in-law joined the celebration, creating a warm family atmosphere. 

It was a heartwarming occasion, honouring not just her milestone age but also the cherished relationships she has built over the years. Everyone enjoyed delicious treats, and the air was filled with love and appreciation for Ronni’s remarkable journey.     

Our wonderful residents helped set up a book swap table in the reception area — and what a success it’s been! From cookbooks to fiction, non-fiction, and even children’s books… there really is something for everyone. You name it, we’ve got it! 

It’s been super popular already, with lots of residents, visitors, and staff stopping by to browse, swap, and discover something new.

There’s nothing better than sharing a good book. Why not pop in and see what you might find?         

What a lovely way to celebrate Easter here at Balclutha Court! Our residents enjoyed a delightful afternoon tea filled with delicious cakes, tasty sandwiches, plenty of tea… and, of course, lots of chocolate treats.

The fun continued with an Easter-themed quiz, bringing plenty of laughs and a little friendly competition along the way! 
A real highlight of the day was our Easter Bonnet Parade. 

Our residents had previously decorated their own beautiful bonnets, and they truly pulled out all the stops – so much creativity and colour on display!

Residents have made the most of the glorious sunshine as we come to the end of the month of April. It has filled us with hope of a beautiful summer. Here at Oaklands we love nothing more than a stroll around the gardens smelling the flowers and even picking some for our bedrooms.  

We also took full advantage and enjoyed a group singsong in our courtyard and having fun with a beach ball, which provoked conversations about the beach, so we are excited to plan our trips to the seaside this year.  

We enjoy bi-weekly seated yoga sessions with Natasha, which our residents love. 

They enjoy the relaxing element of the session along with the stretching of the muscles and the variety of muscles they work as doing the sessions. Following on from this, one resident, Sarah asked for her resident’s wish to enjoy a one-to one session, and so we organised this and Sarah loved every minute of it, feeling really spoilt.    

We had a lovely time at Balclutha Court welcoming the Bluebird Family Centre for a fun-filled Easter visit. Residents and little ones enjoyed getting creative with Easter arts and crafts, followed by lots of laughter with some Easter-themed games. 

It was such a joy to see all the generations coming together and sharing smiles.    

What a lovely visit we had from Michelle and her animals.  

The residents were keen to learn about the different animals that were brought in to visit, with some preferring the calm guinea pig to the boisterous cockerel who was crowing and calling out throughout the visit. As one of the foundations of our Life Enrichment program, we know that animal therapy can help reduce blood pressure and improve overall cardiovascular health.       

Regular pet therapy sessions are one of our Resident’s favourite things.

Werrington Lodge celebrated Easter with the annual visit from the Easter bunny, who gave every resident and staff member an Easter egg. All the residents enjoyed the occasion thoroughly and were more than willing to have their photo taken with the bunny!

There were also craft activities on the day, with residents designing a bouquet using flowers and Easter-themed objects.