Celebrating life at Barchester

To celebrate National Dog Day today, we hosted our very first Dog Café and our residents absolutely loved it! There were lots of waggy tails and cuddles. The residents were also thrilled to chat with Corban, a local dog trainer/behaviourist. Our guests were spoiled with iced "paw pops" and a delectable choice of "Scooby snacks!"

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that our fundraiser was a massive success, bringing together our residents, families, and  amazing community heroes to support breast cancer awareness. 
While we don't have the final fundraising total just yet, we are working hard to calculate it and will share the final amount with you all as soon as possible! In the meantime, we want to send a massive thank you to absolutely everyone who donated and helped us support this vital cause. 

We are so grateful to Breast Friends Northampton for sharing their powerful personal journeys, handing out vital information leaflets, and giving a life-saving demonstration on how to check for signs of breast cancer. Tamara Bloomfield from Fitted by Tamara also joined us to showcase her wonderful, compassionate home-visit bra fitting service that supports individuals through every unique health journey. We were deeply honoured to welcome Kettering Deputy Mayor Andy Byatt into our home and thank him for sharing details about the fantastic work he is doing for the town of Kettering. A huge thank you also goes to the Kettering and District Lions Club for their generous tombola donations and for providing our attendees with life-saving emergency medical tubs for their fridges.  

Our local supermarkets showed amazing support, so a big shout-out goes to Julie, the Tesco Community Champion, and Mina Everett, the Asda Community Champion, for their beautiful hamper and tombola donations. 

Finally, we want to give thanks to our incredible in-house team, our Activity Coordinator, Karen, for her amazing support in organising the day, and our talented Chef, Mel, for creating a spectacular spread of cakes, sandwiches, mousses, and savouries that everyone loved. 
General Manager Chloe Hornby shared "I am incredibly proud of our community for coming together to support such an important cause. Bringing together vital health education from Breast Friends Northampton, practical life-saving tools from the Lions Club, and the wonderful generosity of our local business partners made this afternoon truly unforgettable. Thank you again to every single person who attended, donated, and made this day so special". 

At Claremont Parkway, our vibrant activities calendar is designed to uplift and inspire. 

This week's 'Toe-Tapping Tuesday' did exactly that, bringing smiles and song to our lounge with a brilliant performance by live vocalist Dean. From Elvis Presley to The Beatles, the nostalgic playlist had everyone singing along.We love hosting these musical afternoons because of the immense benefits they bring to our residents. 

Music is a powerful tool that helps stimulate reminiscence, promotes physical coordination through dancing and clapping, and builds a strong sense of connection and companionship within our care home.

We are incredibly grateful to Mina for her kind donation of a wonderful hamper for our upcoming Pink Ribbon Afternoon Tea! 

We are so excited to welcome Mina to the event next Wednesday. This is a free event open to anyone in our local community to enjoy a lovely afternoon while raising vital funds for the Pink Ribbon Foundation.

Residents at Claremont Parkway enjoyed a fantastic afternoon of live entertainment, taking a nostalgic trip down memory lane from the 1950s to the 1970s.

The home welcomed the incredibly talented Simon from Sunset Magic, who performed an energetic mix of classic hits across multiple genres. The room was filled with laughter, clapping, and singing as residents sang along to their favourite tracks.

It was a true community event, with several family members joining in the fun. The home was also delighted to welcome back two ladies who recently enjoyed a respite care break at Claremont Parkway. They regular visit the home to stay in touch with the friends they made and to join in on the vibrant monthly activities calendar.

We had a fabulous trip to Monkey World - Ape Rescue Centre, Official Facebook Page again today, the smiles say it all! A fantastic day all round, saw plenty of monkeys and enjoyed chatting with each other and had a picnic!

Wilsmere House was filled with wagging tails, happy smiles, and lots of love as we welcomed some beautiful and friendly dogs for a special pet therapy visit!