Activities at Ashcombe House Care Home
Activities are an integral part of life at our care home. We want to ensure that the people we support have as much fun as possible during their time with us, so it’s important that our activities programme is created with the interests of residents in mind. Our skilled Activities Coordinators bring a certain uniqueness to the home that can’t be found anywhere else, and which is reflected in the activities they organise.
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 Ashcombe House Care Home
Milestones Museum Memory Lounge
Last year Ashcombe House was fortunate to be invited to pilot the Milestones Memory Lounge. Our residents thoroughly conducted the sessions, which involved items and memories from the 1960’s. We were invited to attend the official opening of the Memory Lounge, which gave us a chance to see the finished 1960’s ‘house’ full of items that spark memories and conversation. It was a lovely afternoon. We met the Mayor of Basingstoke and got a chance to explore the museum, visiting and reminiscing about all the shops that used to be in Basingstoke.
We ended the visit with a trip to Milestones' very own pub, The Baverstock Arms!
Nutrition and Hydration Week
Ashcombe House enjoyed taking part in Nutrition and Hydration Week. We started the week with Guinness and Irish cream with our St. Patrick Day celebrations. On our Baking for Fun morning, we made jelly and blancmange in a rabbit mould. The blancmange rabbit brought up memories of birthday parties. Peggy said that it wasn’t a party with a rabbit blancmange! Our Nutrition and Hydration Trolley was a great success. It was taken around the home, so everyone could choose a treat to enjoy.
However, the star of our Nutrition and Hydration Week was our fruit-carving afternoon with our amazing chef Jules. Jules showcased his fruit-carving talent, turning fruit and vet into a sea scene, apple swans, orange mice and our very own Joan’s face in a watermelon! Pat said how wonderful it was to see the fruit and veg come to life. Everyone enjoyed a bowl of fruit while we all agreed it had been a fabulous afternoon.
St Patrick's Day
Residents at Ashcombe House spent today celebrating St. Patricks Day. Chef, Tracey, made a special Irish-themed menu which included Irish stew and an amazing chocolate sponge with Irish cream sauce. The conversation over lunch was about trips to Ireland and remembering family and friends who came from Ireland.
The incredibly talented Tony Allgood, a firm favourite with our residents, came to entertain us in the afternoon, with a repertoire of Irish songs and the odd joke or two. Tony had everyone singing and laughing. Peggy even got up for a little dance.
We finished off our celebrations with a glass of Guinness or Irish Cream, raising a glass to Ireland.
Alpaca Birthday Celebration!
Sally has always loved alpacas, so we thought an alpaca visit would be a perfect way for Sally to celebrate her 90th birthday. Wendy from Alpaca Adventure brought Lenny and Anton along to join in with the birthday celebrations. It was lovely to see Sally’s face light up when she saw alpacas Lenny and Anton walking into the lounge.
Sally was the first to have cuddles with Lenny and Anton, who then walked around our home enjoying cuddles with residents and staff.
Sally said, “They are such lovely gentle animals. We are so lucky they came to see us. It was a really special birthday.”
Royal Mint Museum Reminiscence Box
The Royal Mint Museum Reminiscence Box project is an opportunity for Care Home residents to interact with a part of the Royal Mint museum collection.
Ashcombe House was lucky enough to borrow The Royal Mint Museum Box. The box contains an electronic box and a collection of genuine and replica objects for residents to handle. The objects are fitted with a special microchip which, when placed on the box, plays audio clips about the items.
The Museum Box contained twelve objects, including a purse of pre-decimal coins, a replica medal, a miniature Shove Ha’penny Board and a 1953 Coronation Crown. We had a great afternoon reminiscing about the various items. Our favourite was the farthing with a robin on it.
Peggy remembered visiting the Royal Mint when it was in London. Joan said it brought back memories of her mum's big fat purse with all her coins in it!!
We all agreed it was a very interesting afternoon which brought back many memories.
Move it with Dee!
Who says exercise has to be tough? Thursday afternoons at Ashcombe House are proof that you can stay active whilst having a blast!
Dee runs our weekly armchair exercise classes, which are always well attended. Everyone can take part in the fun as the class is gentle on the body, but still improves flexibility and strength and also boosts moods. The lounge is full of lively music which we sing along to as we exercise using hoops and pom poms. A great way to enjoy light-hearted exercise with friends, music and laughter.
