Celebrating life at Barchester

A huge thank you to Cloud Nine, the local village choir led by Julie Bristow, for bringing music, joy, and wonderful energy to the community with a fantastic performance. The residents thoroughly enjoyed every moment!

The choir also took the time to visit residents in their bedrooms, sharing songs, smiles, and special moments with those unable to attend the performance.

Music is a wonderful way to bring people together, strengthen community connections, and create meaningful moments across generations. A truly uplifting visit filled with warmth, friendship, and community spirit!

Resident John had a fantastic time watching the England vs Argentina match at the village pub. Although the result was not in England’s favour, the excitement before kick-off, lively atmosphere, and wonderful community spirit made it a memorable evening.

The warm welcome from everyone at the pub, especially Keiran, added to the experience, creating a friendly and enjoyable match-day atmosphere.

While England may not have secured the hoped-for result, John enjoyed a wonderful outing filled with laughter, excitement, and great memories.

We would like to thank Ripon Theatre Festival for coming to our home and performing for us, our residents, relatives and staff thoroughly enjoyed their performance

There was plenty of excitement on Memory Lane as we explored our wonderful new collection of dementia-friendly puzzles and books.

Residents enjoyed looking through the colourful books together, chatting about the pictures, trying out the new puzzles, and sharing plenty of smiles along the way. These activities are designed to support cognitive stimulation, encourage conversation, and provide meaningful moments of engagement in a calm and enjoyable way.

The best part is that these resources will benefit not only our Memory Lane community but many other residents throughout the home too. We look forward to seeing them enjoyed for many months to come as part of our life enrichment programme.  

Well… our Hawaiian BBQ party may not have made it into the garden today, but we certainly made it work!

What a fantastic afternoon we had! A huge thank you to Activities Coordinator Gemma and Head Chef Grazia for all the organising and planning, and to Caitlin and Karen for all their help in making the afternoon such a success.

Our staff absolutely embraced the Hawaiian spirit, joining in with the fun, showing us some brilliant dance moves and getting our residents up dancing too! The atmosphere was full of laughter, singing and smiles.

And a very special thank you to Nathalie Gunn, performer, who truly brought the vibes! From singing and dancing to residents enjoying the music from their chairs, she had everyone involved and created such a wonderful atmosphere.

Despite having to change our original plans, everyone told us what a brilliant time they’d had and that’s what matters most!

We definitely brought a little taste of Hawaii inside The Fernes today! 

Our residents enjoyed Knit & Natter Club, where they got creative making colourful pom-poms that will be turned into delightful ice creams and lollies. There was lots of chat, laughter, and refreshments to enjoy along the way

Gathering in our lovely café bar, Pam and her husband celebrated 64 years of marriage – a truly blessed milestone,

Surrounded by their children enjoying a lovely cup of tea, they shared precious time together, celebrating a lifetime filled with love, memories and togetherness.

Here’s to 64 wonderful years of love, laughter and cherished moments. What a beautiful achievement.

We were thrilled to welcome back the Fringe Care Fest to Strachan House this year!

We do throw a great party at Strachan House, any excuse for good food, drinks and dancing! We hosted 2 amazing acts who wowed the audience with circus tricks followed by some beautiful music from the 1930s. The event is so special to us all and truly does bring the authentic fringe experience to all! 

The kitchen team out did themselves, with many asking if we had hired a company to cater – we proudly answered no. Our chefs made it all!

Strachan house would like to thank the life enrichment team who made this possible and, of course, the whole team for making sure everyone was supported to access such a great event! 

Today the ladies at Strachan launched a dominoes club! The scrabble club is expanding and we’re here for it! 

The Sun Lounge at Strachan is a perfect spot for a board game or two with lots of natural light and often a deer popping their head around just to see who’s winning! 

We can’t wait to see what games are next!