Activities at Ashlar House Care Home

ACE Activities offer a full range of activity and training programmes for adults and we are proud to be partnered with them.

One of the activities provided is Ace Gardening, based at Grange Farm in Chigwell. The Ace Gardeners donated some of the produce to St John's church during Epping's Harvest Festival. The vicar of St John's, Olivia Coote was delighted to receive the hand-grown produce and it was agreed that it would be a lovely idea to donate the vegetables to us.

After collecting the organically grown winter vegetables, our residents across the home got into prepping them to assist our Head Chef, Ariel who will be making vegetable risotto.

This session was a wonderful social activity that evoked memories of cooking for large family gatherings. Winter is nearly here and what better way to keep warm than having home cooked food fresh from Ashlar’s kitchen?

Staff and residents at Ashlar House were treated to a virtual cruise and interactive cookery demo taking in some mocktails, exotic dishes and mystery destinations courtesy of chef, Paul Hawkins, and Lisa Richards from Unilever’s Away From Home team which supports the care sector.

Chef Paul whipped up some tasty treats in a live, interactive cookery demo. Much to residents’ delight, Ashlar's head chef Ariel had prepared the same recipes so that residents could try all the dishes. As they pulled into each port on the cruise, residents were given clues to identify where they were visiting and then Paul created a typical dish from that country for everyone to taste.

Residents started off in Hamburg where they sampled Labskaus, a hearty dish of mashed potatoes, corned beef and beetroot served with a fried egg and pickles.  Next it was off to Rotterdam to try delicious Bittenballen or crispy Dutch Meatballs.  Finally the residents docked in Zeebrugge where they tasted Mattentaart, a traditional sweet puff pastry almond-flavoured tart.

Paul said “It was an absolute pleasure to be able to prepare these dishes for the Barchester residents and even more so because they got to taste them, despite my not being able to be there in person. Thanks to all the chefs in Barchester homes across the country who supported me to deliver this really lovely activity.”

We have been getting Halloween ready at Ashlar House this week. From designing Halloween decorations, pumpkin carving, flower arranging and spooky costumes we have been getting in the festive mood. 

To spread the festive cheer we have been delivering Halloween-themed doughnuts to the wonderful refurbishment team from Wren. The changes they are making to our home look fantastic! They are working very hard to complete the whole refurbishment before Christmas so that the residents can enjoy Christmas in a brand new beautiful environment.

On a day that could have sprung from a Keats poem, we celebrated our beautiful outdoor spaces.

With crisp blue skies and only a slight chill in the air, it seemed a perfect afternoon for an Autumn themed photo shoot to show off our newly refurbished gardens and courtyards.

One of our residents was very keen to be involved so we worked to make the shoot as fun as possible.

One of the things that people don’t think about is; what happens during the first few days after you move into a care home for the first time?

Well, at Barchester Healthcare the whole team from the General Manager, the chef, the carers and nurses will all pop by and introduce themselves, start getting to know you and help you begin creating your new home. This was perfectly encapsulated this week by Activities Coordinator, Rita at Ashlar House.

Joan moved into Ashlar House on Thursday and spent the afternoon getting settled into her new home with help from her family. The very next morning, Rita popped by to introduce herself and her role, and to talk to Joan about life at Ashlar House. Rita noticed Joan owns an impressive collection of plaques dedicated to fallen soldiers and chatted to Joan about how important this was in her life. After learning that Joan had always been interested in the Armed Forces and honouring the soldiers who have fought for their country, Rita asked if Joan had plans for celebrating Remembrance Day. Joan was very keen to be a part of any local celebration on the day.

Rita sprang into action. A couple of hours and several phone calls later Rita had:

Secured a VIP ticket for Joan to attend the Remembrance Sunday service at Epping Green as a guest of the Mayor. Spoken with the local branch of the Royal British Legion, who are keen to meet with Joan and discuss her plaque collection. Organised for Ashlar House’s Head of Maintenance to assist Joan to create a display with her plaque collection. Arranged for Joan to have an interview with BBC Radio about her wartime experiences. Booked transport to and from the Remembrance service along with a special lunch reservation.

This is how we work.

Getting to know our residents is one of the most important aspects of the early part of their stay with us. Our bespoke Getting To Know Me booklets are completed by the whole team under the careful supervision of the Activities Coordinator. Assisting residents to continue, or start, hobbies and interests, or to achieve a dream, is one of the wonderful ways that we can make positive meaningful impact during their stay with us.

A new haircut can boost self-confidence, provide that wonderful pampered feeling and encourage compliments from those around you!

Our regular hairdresser, Josephine was back in the home today providing services to all who wanted to book in with her. Residents were very pleased to have Josephine back for a natter whilst they were pampered. All the residents were keen to show off their new locks later.

Ashlar House is currently undergoing a refurbishment project that will include the creation of a brand new in-house beauty salon, which will no doubt become one of most popular spots in the home!