Activities at Arbour Court Care Home
Our specialist activities staff are committed to organising a variety of activities and events for all residents and the local community to get involved in, including trips out to local places of interest in our minibus, visits from entertainers and musicians and small group and individual activities in quiet yet stimulating environments. It is important to us that each individual who we support can get as much from these as possible, so we try our best to arrange activities that reflect resident individual interests as best as possible, and encourage them to participate in any way they can. We also encourage relatives to join with activities and events as often as they can.
Aimee Pickford
Hi, my name is Aimee and I'm the Activities Co-ordinator & Dementia Champion here at Arbour Court. In 2019 I received my Level 3 Health and Social Care and decided I wanted to help and enrich the lives of others.
I started working at Arbour Court in January 2021 as a Care Assistant and progressed to be a Senior Carer. In October 2023 I moved onto the activities team as an Activities Team Leader. I love my role as one of our homes Activities Co-ordinators and love to find new and exciting ways to engage our residents.
I am also a Dementia Champion and work closely with our General Manager, Lisa and other Dementia Champions to implement Barchester's Dementia Framework within the home.
Being part of Arbour Court's family is very rewarding and I feel lucky to work in a great environment.
Read our brochure 'Life-enriching activities' for more information about life in our care homes.
Read our brochure
Activities and Events Partnerships
As part of our bespoke life-enrichment programmes, we host a number of live virtual events in the home on a regular basis through a number of partnerships with places of interest and world class performance companies
Life at Arbour Court Care Home
Writing the shopping list
Residents at Arbour Court are supported to continue their independence and daily life skills and this week we have seen residents compiled the weekly shopping list for ingredients for the Sunday roast. This led to meaningful discussions around their favourite meals around the table with their families, it is often the small things that have the biggest meaning for our residents.
Garden walks
We have been enjoying garden time although the weather is changing. We have been talking about the berries and even spotted some holly and ivy for display and making our plans for Christmas time around our home.
Blenheim Palace
Our residents were thrilled to join Antonia Keaney - Blenheim Palace’s Historian for an intriguing virtual talk on Winston Churchill.
The private resources of Blenheim Palace were drawn upon to afford very new and refreshing insights into this remarkable man. During the talk Antonia shared fascinating information about the breadth of talent, achievement and personality of the "Greatest Briton": soldier, politician, statesman, painter, writer, orator, family man - and bricklayer!
We all had a wonderful time and enjoyed learning more about UK’s former Prime Minister.
Blooming Haus
We were delighted to join Blooming Haus’s Christmas Wreath Making Masterclass, where Master Florist, Michal and his business partner - Michael showed us the best method to create beautiful festive wreaths.
Following the tips and ideas learnt during the amazing virtual experience, we were happy to put our skills to a test and to enter the #BarchesterChristmasWreaths competition.
We all had a wonderful time creating our festive wreath/s.
Thank you @bloominghaus for helping our residents flow into the true spirit of Noel.
English National Ballet
We celebrated Remembrance Day with English National Ballet Associate Dance Artist, Richard Bermange, who led a creative dance workshop for our residents followed by a special extract of Akram Khan’s work Dust, premiered in 2014 as part of ENB’s Lest We Forget programme, commemorating the First World War.
ENB company dancers, Erina Takahashi and James Streeter performed the extract and provided some insight into this moving work.
Our residents had a wonderful time as they listened, danced and were able to singalong to famous war time music performed by ENB Associate Musician, Matt Hartley-Stevens
Cooking demo
We had a lovely time joining Chef Alex Connell from Vegetarian for Life for a Halloween-inspired virtual cooking demo.
Alex demonstrated how to prepare a few themed dishes, such as root vegetable tagine, roasted butternut squash mac-n-cheese, chocolate pots with piped biscuits and flapjacks.
Our residents were delighted to be a part of this lovely virtual culinary session by tasting the vegetarian dishes from the comfort of our home.
Upcoming events
Countdown to Christmas
Counting down the days to Christmas with a fun filled month ahead and we extend a warm invitation for you to join us as we step into the festive spirit!
