Celebrating life at Barchester

Our lovely smile board is really cheering us all up. We have received letters, pictures and cards from the local community. They mean so much to our residents and staff. Thank you.

The residents of Chester Court have been very lucky to receive lots of lovely mail and gifts from the local community, and were delighted to receive their new friends from the home's local Samaritans branch in the form of Sams Bears. The bears are to help anyone know that they are not alone during this unprecedented period.

Residents at Chester Court, with support from the care team, have found a sweet way to stay in touch with their families and friends during the coronavirus outbreak (despite not being able to have visitors) by writing postcards home to their loved ones. The postcards are enabling residents in a very touching way to let their friends and families know they are doing okay at this difficult and uncertain time.

It is vitally important that we ensure that our residents can remain in contact with their family and friends during this time. New technology is great for this purpose, and Skype and FaceTime is available, but of course, a good old fashioned letter is just as welcome!

My husband has always been dealt with respect and love - this team is a credit to you as their employers and your biggest asset - please value them.

The corridors of Cheshire Grange were brightened up with some colourful & crazy hair styles, as staff sported some weird and wonderful bouffants. This was not only to bring a smile to everyone’s faces, but to help raise funds for a local community initiative, set up by one of our carer's partners, to help families hardest hit by the current situation.

The day was a great success, and a total £145 was raised for the fund in-house on the day, along with over another £100 donated to the Just Giving page by families and friends who couldn’t join us.

An international pandemic was not going to let organisers of the Royal Chelsea Flower Show or residents at Flowerdown stop celebrating the event, as it was moved to a digital format.

Taking place between 18^th – 24^th May, the world’s greatest flower show went digital, and brought an exciting line-up of world-leading designers, plant experts, and practical gardening advice – all enjoyed from the comfort of your own home.

In celebration, the RHS and BBC1’s The One Show, joined forces to launch a competition to celebrate ‘Virtual Chelsea’, asking green fingered fans to share images of green spaces and gardens – and hear how plants are helping them through these challenging times. Of course, residents at Flowerdown were keen to get involved.

Residents thoroughly enjoyed flower arranging, planting seasonal flowers and seeds ready to be planted into our garden or simply enjoying the lovely weather in beautiful surroundings.

The Chelsea Flower Show is a much loved event at the home, and residents get so much from spending time in our gardens. In these unprecedented times, we are so lucky that the residents can still enjoy the peaceful green spaces. Our dedicated gardening team made up of staff and residents alike work over-thyme to get our garden beautiful for the summer, and some of them loved the competition element of the Flower Show this year. Continuing to provide a range of engaging physical, mental and spiritual activities for our residents is more important than ever, and we continue to ensure that the group activities are smaller, adhering to the government's social distancing guidelines.

I will never forget your friendship and kindness you showed to myself too when I went in. We shared so much laughter and hugs, it was like you became an extended family to me. The entertainment and offerings you provided put a constant smile on my mum’s face, and mine too.

It’s easy to get lonely in a time of isolation, which is why we have been writing postcards with our residents this week to keep in touch with loved ones.

We’ve also received some great letters and pictures from our pen pals and local community, which we have displayed here at Bamfield Lodge.

Our residents have enjoyed receiving these and sending responses back to their pen pals. It has really helped to brighten our days!

Staff at Beaufort Grange were joined by local police personnel to clap for key workers in the community. As a way of saying thank you to the staff at Beaufort Grange, Avon and Somerset Constabulary gifted chocolate eggs to all staff and residents at the care home. Beaufort Grange staff then joined the police to clap and cheer to express appreciation for the effort being made by key workers to keep people safe and well during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We here at Beaufort Grange are incredibly grateful for the outstanding services provided by key workers. We have been overwhelmed by the kindness shown by our local community. Many people have brought flowers and cards for staff and residents. We have also received homemade face masks, visors, and kit bags, which have been a great help to our staff.”

We are planning to host a garden party for our local community once lockdown has ended and it is safe to do so. We are looking forward to being able to see everyone and express our thanks for everyone’s efforts.

Activity Coordinators, Jamie and Elizabeth, proudly displayed their colourful banner outside the home in an effort to boost community spirit in the area and remind people to keep smiling through these difficult times.

Bamfield Lodge would like to thank everyone in the local area for all of the care and support since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The last few months have been a challenge, as with all care services, but we have been overwhelmed with supportive pictures, messages, and care packages.

Staff at Red Oaks had a surprise parcel from a member of the Henfield under-8’s football team bearing gifts.

7 year old Ewan and his mum came to Red Oaks with a big box of quality hand creams for the staff at Red Oaks. The attached letter stated: “The team wanted to say a huge thank you for all the amazing work you always do at the care home, but particularly what you have been doing to support people during these challenging times. We understand that your hands are getting very dry and sore from using lots of hand sanitiser, so we hope that these hand creams help.”

In these unprecedented times, it is very touching that community groups are thinking about the NHS and the social care sector and being so generous in support.

It can feel a little lonely when you can’t have your family around you and the staff have to distance socially. Thankfully, we now have a large quantity of empathy dolls and robotic companion cats, and they are very comforting to hold and cuddle.

We do not share them at the moment, but we have enough for those residents who need a little loving. The best of all is perhaps that they neither answer back nor do they scratch, even when you poke them in the eye.

There are no words to tell you how grateful I am to this wonderful, fantastic place. Barchester should be proud and privileged to have such a wonderful care home under their name.

Being in lockdown doesn’t mean friends and families can’t connect with each other. Lots of us have been using Skype, sending letters and postcards or making videos to be enjoyed. Here at Moreton we have set up a screen in our reception area for our residents to enjoy all the messages, films and photos sent in.

The sun shone and we had a wonderful day celebrating the 75th Anniversary of VE Day. Three of our residents were based in India at the end of WW2.  We decorated our beautiful courtyards with bunting and flags, our chef conjured up some war time food, we sang songs and had a lovely tea party in the garden.

The local community group in Stonehouse that had planned the town’s celebrations sent us a box of goodies of food and drink as well as some fantastic knitted bunting.  Thank you Wendy and our Stonehouse friends.

Residents of Leeming Bar have been delighted each time they receive some beautiful handmade cards and messages from their loved ones and members of the community through their pen-pal initiative.

The residents have loved reading the messages in the cards and they have been displayed proudly in the home. As part of their recent arts & craft sessions, residents have been creating cards and messages to show and send to their loved ones; it is amazing how a simple letter, short story, poem or even a photo or drawing can brighten someone’s day.

Thank you to all the staff at Broadway Halls for doing such an amazing job. Although I can’t wait to see my mum, I do not have any worry or added stress as to how she is because I know she is getting the very best care.