Activities at Ashcombe House Care Home

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.

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.”

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. 

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.

We welcomed in the year of the snake with a day of celebrations. Ashcombe House looked wonderful, decorated with hanging red lanterns. Our Baking for Fun club spent the morning decorating a Chinese New Year cake for everyone to enjoy with a cup of tea later in the day. We covered the cake with red icing, then, using white icing which we sprayed gold, we made Chinese-themed decorations, including some snakes!

Our head chef, Tracy, cooked up a delicious oriental feast for lunch which looked and tasted amazing, followed by a fortune cookie each.

Following Chinese tradition, residents gave staff a lucky red envelope which contained a Chinese lucky coin. This symbolises best wishes and good fortune for the coming year. Joan said that “It was lovely to take part in the tradition of giving lucky red envelopes.”

Last year we got together to write a letter to King Charles to wish him Happy Birthday. In the letter we shared some of our royal memories. Including visits to Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, how beautiful the furniture was and how lovely the little church at Windsor Castle looked. Babs said that she went by train and had fish and chips on the way home! Joan remembered how proud she was to receive a letter from Her Majesty the Queen. Joan saw Her Majesty the Queen in a beautiful yellow coat, which inspired her to write a poem which she sent to the palace. The reply said that Her Majesty the Queen greatly enjoyed reading the poem.

We were really excited when an envelope with the Royal Crest arrived in the post to Ashcombe House. The letter, from the Head of Royal Correspondence, told us that the King was most interested to learn of all our wonderful memories of the Royal Family, and was particularly interested to hear that Josie named her late daughter after the late Queen Elizabeth II. The reply from the Palace acknowledges the warm wishes and the memories we sent to King Charles making it clear that he had genuinely taken the time to read and appreciate every word. We felt honoured and cherished to receive such a personalised reply from Buckingham Palace.