Celebrating life at Barchester

We had many things going on for Remembrance Day this year. Including trips to the local remembrance garden, making and displaying our own poppy memorial in our beautiful garden, a special church service delivered by churches together and an Armistice Day lunch and concert with beautiful singer Miranda. One highlight of which was watching Miranda and the residents all sing Jerusalem with so much passion it drew tears.

We shall remember them.     

We enjoyed a magical evening filled with sparkling prosecco and firework sparklers as we celebrated Bonfire night in our garden here at Kingfisher Lodge as well as another night of sparklers to finish our Diwali celebrations earlier in the week.

Our hospitality team served delicious hotdogs on Bonfire night for residents and visitors, and we had music filling the air creating a wonderful atmosphere. 

“It’s so lovely to be out in the garden having a party in the dark,” said Joan, one of our residents.     

What a spooktacular event we had celebrating Halloween with the community and local children. We carved pumpkins, made Halloween decorations and had a fancy-dress competition.

Our fancy-dress winner was a wonderful young vampire, but all the children looked amazing, and a lot of our residents became witches for the day too.

We were all rewarded by fiendishly spooky cakes, chocolate and marshmallow drinks and, of course, lots of sweeties. 

Today at Cedars Care Home, we gathered to honour and remember the brave men and women who served our country. Our residents shared memories, reflected on loved ones, and observed a moment of quiet remembrance. Many here carry stories that remind us of the resilience, courage, and unity shown during times of great hardship.

This year, one of our residents has been proudly selling poppies at reception, helping us raise funds and awareness in support of the Royal British Legion. We are incredibly proud of the compassion and dedication shown within our Cedars community.

We are deeply honoured to support and care for those who lived through history, and to ensure their stories, sacrifices, and experiences are never forgotten. From generation to generation, we remember. Lest We Forget.   

Today we reflect on and remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and to those who return but never the same, together as a nation. This morning our residents watched the live coverage of Remembrance Sunday, at The Cenotaph in Whitehall, London. We marked this very special day by holding a two-minute silence as we observed the wreath laying ceremony, and looked on at the march of nearly 10,000 veterans.

This afternoon we had our special remembrance service, held by our local Chaplain, Alison. All three communities at Bluebell joined together in our reception area, wearing their poppies with pride.

Today we remembered, 
We remembered those who served before
We remembered those who are no more 
We remember those who serve today 
We remember them all on Remembrance Day.
Lest we forget. 

Tonight, our residents celebrated bonfire night. We gathered in the garden with hot chocolates and sweet treats and enjoyed some sparklers. Our talented kitchen team put together a lovely bonfire-themed menu, including sausages, jacket potatoes and mushy peas.

For those who didn’t wish to come into the garden, we had some virtual firework displays in each of our communities for all to enjoy.   

Whilst some residents enjoyed looking out the windows and balconies at the pretty firework displays, we could see. We had music playing in the garden and lots of us were up dancing and singing.  

Today, residents at Bluebell Park enjoyed working together to make a Guy Fawkes for bonfire night. They worked in pairs to stuff the arms and legs with newspaper and straw and worked together to fill the body.

Residents were very pleased with the finished guy and posed for a picture before he was situated in our reception area for all visitors to see.      

Our gents ventured out on the minibus as they took their Gents Club on tour to the local village pub, the Musson Gap Inn. Enjoying a nice refreshing beer of their choice and a good old natter, proved to be the most perfect way to spend an Autumnal Tuesday morning. 

It was fascinating hearing the wonderful conversations taking place throughout the outing, reminiscing about various subjects amongst friends. 

Where will our Gents Club venture to next?  

There were no tricks, only treats at Newton House as we welcomed Steve Carmel for a fun and fabulous Halloween party!

Our dancing shoes were all dusted off and ready to boogie down on the dance floor and enjoy what we are doing best.

The residents were delighted with a beautiful little treat and a very special furry visit from the little pumpkin Mable, who was all dressed up for the party!

Resident Mike sang his heart out with Steve as his friends watched on and cheered. It really was a party to remember!

A spook-tacular Halloween!