Celebrating life at Barchester

Wonderful singer Aimee treated us to a wonderful afternoon of music and dancing to timeless classics from across the decades with some extra-special wartime songs to mark D-Day and honour the occasion. 

Aimee’s infectious energy and beautiful voice brought so much joy to our home.  

Our residents were delighted to get out on the Solent on Sunday morning in the sunshine.  The clouds had parted, and the wonderful charity run boat, the Alison MacGregor, set sail!  The residents at the Cedars had a fantastic time taking in the sights of Southampton’s busy shipping lanes and then into the calm waters with beautiful swans, black and white, along the river and up to the mill at BItterne. 

One resident wanted to be the skipper and, with the help of the staff on board, she was able to steer the boat calmly back to the boat’s home in Hythe Marina. 

Rivermead is overjoyed when Wathcourt preschool children come in and visit us. This time we decided to take the games into the garden and enjoy the weather. We had games of large connect4, ring toss, crafting at the table and some lovely chattering with all the residents.

 Our residents really benefit from this intergenerational activity. They reminisce and have lovely fond memories and form meaningful friendships with the children.  

Our residents really enjoy being hands on with the activities here at Rivermead. We have been doing a spot of baking on our memory lane community. Everyone got involved, from measuring the ingredients out, then mixing them up in the bowl. 

Then we had to wait for the crucial part of them cooking in the oven before we could taste them! All the residents enjoyed testing the buns to make they were delicious of course!  

Great day out meeting the Owls at Knockhatch Adventure Park. Such beautiful birds of prey, the residents loved being so close to these rarely seen amazing animals. 

Yesterday we wrapped up our busy month of birthdays with the lovely June's 90th birthday! We had lot's of fun singing and dancing to live music from the fantastic Anouk who really helped get us all in to the party spirit!

Rivermead have been making the most of the sunny weather recently, and we decided to have a lovely walk into Norton town. We started by walking to the duck pond where we fed some swans and ducks, and spent some time chatting and admiring the peace and quiet, then we were greeted by a lovely little fury friend who enjoyed some petting from our residents. 

Then we walked up to the local pub, The Derwent Arms, for a lovely drink and a spot of lunch. The residents thoroughly enjoyed their day out, thanking the whole day for being able to come out of the home. 

It has been all about the men in our home, the ones who brighten our days with their smiles and conversations. We would love to wish every dad, father figure, granddad and great-granddad a Happy Father’s Day. 

We also remember those Dads who are no longer with us, but are always in our hearts. We celebrated Father's Day at Newlands with a social afternoon, live entertainment and tasty treats. We were entertained by one of our residents, Alan’s son. Alan could not hide his excitement and joy, he had been waiting for this day and he expressed his joy.

We’re excited to announce that our brand-new digital clinical system, Enable, is officially live! This is a big step forward for our care home – helping us deliver even better, more efficient, and more personalised care for our wonderful residents. 

Our amazing staff have been gearing up for this moment with training, teamwork, and a lot of excitement. Enable will make care planning smoother, documentation smarter, and communication stronger – all while keeping residents’ wellbeing at the heart of everything we do. Everyone is excited and curious. 

We had a great time welcoming our cyclists to our home for their last stop of day 1. Our residents, staff, our community friends and the Mayor of Workington, Cllr David Farrar were on hand to welcome this amazing team. What better way to do so other than to throw a BBQ party with live entertainment? 

Our residents had an opportunity to chat and spend time with our cyclists and our guest (The Mayor of Workington, Cllr David Farrar, with his consort Cllr Allan Hodgson). This really brings the spirit of the community together. A lovely time was had by all.

We love seeing our little friends every week for some fun-filled activities. The residents' faces always light up when the children arrive. Our beautiful garden is a great environment for our residents and the children from our local nursery to enjoy a variety of amazing outdoor activities. A favourite is the giant games and bubble machine.

 Residents have made such special bonds with the children who visit regularly, so we were delighted to invite them back for our annual picnics. These are held over two weeks when the children spend a couple of hours over lunchtime at South Grange playing games, chatting away and enjoying a delicious picnic with the residents. We laughed, posed for photos, sang songs, made lots of lovely memories and shared some tasty homemade biscuits that the children made for us and, most of all, had a wonderful time.

Last week, in celebration of Carers Week, we took a moment to give back to the incredible individuals who give so much every single day. 
We were truly privileged to enjoy some amazing beauty treatments, lovingly provided by our talented beautician, Kate. 

From relaxing massages and rejuvenating facials to pampering nail treatments — it was a day full of smiles, self-care, and well-deserved Tender Loving Care. "The dedication and empathy shown by our carers at Waterside Court is central to the quality of care we deliver — every day, not just during Carers Week." Thank you for all that you do. You are truly appreciated.  

Our community at Waterside Court was recently treated to a lovely visit from Jean, a gentle donkey from Island Farm Donkey Sanctuary. Her calm and affectionate presence quickly captured the hearts of residents and staff alike, creating moments of pure joy and comfort. 

The visit held special meaning for one of our residents, Bill, who recognised members of the sanctuary team and fondly reminisced about past connections. It was a beautiful reminder of the lasting impact of shared experiences and companionship.

Animal therapy plays an important role in our commitment to enhancing residents’ well-being. Jean’s visit is just one example of how these special encounters bring smiles, spark memories, and create meaningful connections within our home.

"I like that one; how do you make it?" enquired Marlene.

Simon proceeded to explain to Marlene how he and his wife harvest, extract the lavender oil and blend it with harmonising complimentary oils plus the benefits of each.

Our resident family were certainly engrossed and kept Simon on his toes with questions. Simon's wife, Charlotte, is the brains behind the oils, where Simon's niche is meeting, greeting and marketing their home-grown products.

Cosy our Hostess could recommend the cleanser toner and Mike procured a cheeky kiss from his wife after trying the beard oil.

We had a cacophony of activities to celebrate the King's Birthday and watch Trooping of the Colours.

Whilst enjoying a blindfolded game of placing the jewel on the King's Crown, Marlene had us all laughing as she kept sticking the diamond on her own Crown (the blindfold)! The competition was frivolously fierce with Lorraine winning first prize.

Next on the day's itinerary was a quiz about King Charles, followed by fun facts, crown and stamp art, plus creating mini-guards and if that wasn't enough, our lovely resident family tried their hands at Shell Art.

Joy thanked Debs, our incredibly talented, innovative and fun-loving 'lady in pink' (Activity Co-Ordinator) for a wonderful fun day!  

Motorbike fan moment we spent the evening taking the men for a night to remember! We enjoyed joining the famous Hayling Bike Night and it did not disappoint joining hundreds of people from all over the south who join once a week. 

A few of our residents owned bikes all their life and felt like they were back in their community and their biker family hearing the engines roar and admire these amazing machines, we already can’t wait for another night just like this! 

We are excited to share with you this session of our gardening club. We planted our seeds a while ago, and now we have sprouts for our veg, it’s time for them to be planted in our sensory courtyard. 

We have planted not only pretty flowers to brighten up the courtyard, but courgettes, tomatoes and many vegetables. We can’t wait to watch it flourish! During our biweekly sessions, we enjoy picking any vegetables that are fully grown and keeping outgrowing veg healthy and watered. 

This night was an absolute success. We enjoyed a night in our lovely courtyard trying different wines and cheeses whilst listening to the talented Nathalie Gunn, who sang us through some of the greatest jazz and songs throughout the decades! 

We ended the night up on our feet dancing and enjoying the sunset with friends, family and starting the summer perfectly. 

Today at Bluebell Park, we hosted our own craft’s-style dog show! 

Relatives and staff brought in their beloved pets, and we enjoyed watching them take on multiple challenges, such as our agility course and “find the treat”. 

We sat in the garden that afternoon and our residents loved seeing the different dogs and giving them all of a fuss. Our resident judges picked out some very deserving winners, and we ended the day with lots of cuddles with the dogs and some nice refreshments in the beautiful sunshine. 

Today our residents have ventured out on our mini-bus to Attenborough Nature Reserve.

During our walk we discovered many painted rocks, wildflower meadows and information about the area and the wildlife. Did you know blue-tits and house sparrows can fly 17mph? The weather was glorious. We spotted dragonflies, butterflies and bees. We then found the perfect spot to have our picnic lunch prepared by our kitchen team. 

Surrounded by nature and wildlife, we enjoyed our lunch and a cold beverage. We spotted many different birds and enjoyed listening to a variety of birdsong. Our residents visited the gift shop and were very impressed with the wall of animal paintings for sale. As we left, one resident saw a beautiful swan nearby who was nesting with her babies.

The residents enjoyed this moment and were happy with how beautiful the day had been. As we got back in our minibus, the residents enjoyed chatting about all the different things they had seen and one resident said "I've had the best time".

Today we welcomed back Kevin & Marie for their special D-Day show!

Our residents had a wonderful morning watching Kevin and Marie put on a great show of dressing up in funny and beautiful outfits, telling jokes, impersonations and singing along to songs from the wartime. 

They laughed, sang, danced, remembered and made even more memories during the celebrations.

Making wishes come true is important because it fosters hope, improves mental and physical health, and provides a sense of accomplishment and joy. It can strengthen relationships, especially within care homes, and provides a distraction from illness. Wishes can act as a catalyst for setting goals and taking steps to achieve them. At Tyspane Care Home we understand the importance of making our residents' hopes and wishes come true, particularly for residents facing difficult situations, the aim being to provide a boost to their self-esteem and overall sense of wellbeing.

Tony, a much-respected and loved resident at Tyspane Care Harm, used to coach and participate in athletics, and is still passionate about it today. He watches all athletic events on the television and enjoys sharing stories of his past achievements. When you talk to Tony, he always expresses how he misses being on the track side. He has longed to spend a day at the athletics track, watching and providing advice to those competing. Well, today, with the help and support of North Devon Athletics Club, we made Tony’s wish come true. Tony spent the whole day at North Devon Athletics Club, Young Athletics Meeting and, luckily for everyone, the weather held out and Tony spent the day on the track side, encouraging, socialising and watching events such as hurdles, races, javelin, long jump, and shot put.

Tony met friends from his past career as an athletics coach and made new friends with North Devon Athletics Club. The North Devon Athletics Club made Tony’s day extra special by participating in the presentations. They ensured his day was special and fun.

Tony said, “It has been a wonderful day, a dream come true. I have met old friends and enjoyed catching up.”

Tim Sharpe replied, “It was wonderful to see you, Tony. I hope North Devon Athletics Club have made your dream come true.”

A massive thank you to everyone who made this Tony’s wish come true, especially Emma and Tim at North Devon Athletics Club.

The gentlemen at Station Court had a fabulous day of love and appreciation, celebrating a day all about them! 

The atmosphere was electric as the care home hosted a ‘dance with dad’ event with family members joining to sing along and dance to feel-good favourites performed live by brilliant entertainer, Mark McCann. 

Afterwards, all the gentlemen were treated to a special Dad's Day dinner, enjoying a 3-course Sunday roast together with a quiz, chocolate gifts and the alcoholic beverages flowing. 

Patrick Spencer MP and Debbie McCallum, District Councillor, visited us at our weekly coffee morning, having a tour of our home and speaking to residents about their life at Alice Grange.  

Our care staff do such a fantastic job that our residents wanted to show them how much they appreciated all their hard work. Gillian and Ruth asked if they could show the staff by arranging an afternoon tea. They ordered and arranged this with the chef, then asked if they could arrange the table. The ladies served tea and handed out treats.

The residents were having their nails done and asked if they could do the staff's nails as another thank you, so care staff had a full week of being spoilt.

Celebrating Royal Ascot with a fun afternoon of seated racing, the residents all thought we had gone mad with the heat when we told them we were racing in the dining room, but they soon got the hang of it and had a fantastic time keeping fit and having fun. Alice couldn’t wait to be in charge of the starting flag. 

‘Ready, steady, go!’ she shouted. We did have some giggles and faces when we brought out the chocolate fountain and strawberries.  

We invited our Little Acorns Nursery children for lunch and a sports day afternoon. It was a mixture of feelings: “happy” to have the children visit, but also “sad” as it would be the last time we would see some of the children as they would be starting school in September. 

So we had a fun time, having lunch, then a sports day in the garden, which was fantastic! The residents were gifted some treat bags to take home and all received winning medals as they were all winners.

What a great afternoon we all had with singer/actress Hannah. 

Hannah brings so much energy, fun and laughter to her performances, with characters in mind. Residents with their smiles and participation was so wonderful to see. Hannah bought a fantastic new act this time with Leggy Linda Exercises. It was so much fun and everyone enjoyed it. 

Residents at Station Court Care Home have enjoyed heading on the mini-bus for days out in the community and soaking up the springtime sunshine during the end of Spring.

Gents club members loved visiting the seaside town of Whitley Bay and tucking into delicious fish n’ chips on the coast. Nature lovers enjoyed strolls in the new Coronation Park, dementia garden, exploring the sensory-stimulating garden and animal lovers had a brilliant trip to Northumberland Zoo, discovering over 80 species of animals, watching the birds of prey show and tucking into a picnic in the sun.

Meaningful mini-bus outings like these are a regular part of our activity programme at Station Court, ensuring our residents remain part of the community and greatly improve mental and physical well-being. 

Continuing with hobbies and interests is very important here at Ashminster House.

One of our gentlemen collects stamps. We have asked the community to drop off any unused stamps to continue his hobby. Cyril is now educating our staff about old coins and what you could buy in the shops years ago.