Activities at Ashcombe House Care Home

At Ashcombe House our residents share stories of their ‘dancing days’.  Iris told us that she used to tap dance wearing red tap shoes with a bow on them.  

During the War, Iris and her friends would tap dance in the air raid shelters to keep everyone entertained.

Today we welcomed Kate, Tap About Town, for an afternoon of music and tap dancing. There was lots of singing and tapping feet as Kate tapped along to some of our favourite tunes, including ‘Singing in the Rain’. Kate and Iris talked about Iris’s tap dancing days, including when Iris painted her tap shoes black, much to her mother’s horror!

Danny said that Kate was excellent, absolutely excellent, and we all agree!

Today, residents at Ashcombe House gathered together to hear the talented Jackie Drew play her violin. With the promise of an afternoon of the rich sound of the violin, there was a lot of excitement in the lounge.

We had a beautiful afternoon getting lost in the delicate melodies, and we tapped and sang along to lively folk songs. We were all totally taken in by the rich sound of the violin. Joan and Sally couldn’t believe that a small instrument could produce such a variety of music.

Music plays an important role at Ashcombe House. It provides a sense of comfort and joy, evokes positive emotions and brings back happy memories.  

Ken said that the afternoon brought back many happy memories. We all agreed that we couldn’t wait for Jackie’s next visit.

Ashcombe House celebrated New Year’s Eve with a wonderful performance by Talisha who had us all singing along.  

The lounge was full of residents, staff and family members who sang and danced their way through the afternoon! The highlight of the afternoon was when we all linked hands to join together to sing Auld Lang Syne.  

We are looking forward to more music, laughter and special moments in 2025!

Our residents thought it would be a lovely idea to have a Christmas Lunch at a local garden centre.  

We chose Lasham Garden Centre as the festive venue and had a wonderful trip out.  

The full Christmas dinner with all the trimmings was very tasty, we pulled Christmas crackers, shared lots of laughs and took our time exploring the beautiful garden centre. 

Some of us even managed to squeeze in a bit of Christmas shopping!  

It was a truly special day for everyone.

Our Christmas cake, which we lovingly baked at our last ‘Baking for Fun’ session, enjoyed a cheeky brandy or two while we decided how to decorate it!

It didn’t take us long to choose the theme. In honour of Widget and Two Dots, the penguins who visited, we thought it would be fun to make and decorate our Christmas cake with penguins!

We spent a fun morning covering our cake, which smelt amazing, with apricot jam and marzipan.  Then we rolled out the blue and white icing to make a snow/sea scene for the penguins.  We made the penguins using orange, black and white fondant icing.  The penguins were placed on the cake, two are in the water having a swim!

We are all very proud of our residents’ entry to the Barchester Christmas Cake Competition.

We were delighted to welcome two special guests, adorable Humboldt penguins Widget and Two Dots, for a heart-warming visit just in time for Christmas.

Widget and Two Dots charmed everyone as they strolled around our home, stopping for cuddles on the laps of our residents, visitors and staff. Their gentle nature brought so much joy to us all and their favourite snack of sprats made sure they were happy penguins!

Joan said that seeing the penguins was superb, wonderful and the greatest thing imaginable. 

Lillian, at nearly 103 years old, expressed her amazement: “I never thought I’d be holding a penguin.”

General Manager Louise Lambert shared, “It was such a joy to see our residents light up around these wonderful creatures. The penguins’ cuddles made it a truly magical afternoon to kick off the festive season. All we’re missing now is a sprinkle of snow to complete the scene!"