Activities at Ashminster House Care Home
Activities at Ashminster are based on residents' life histories. We host music workshops and encourage participation in a number of other activities, including gentle exercise, bingo and gardening. Monthly live singers entertain everyone with music from the 50s, 60s and 70s and residents are encouraged to interact with the musical instruments. Sensory sessions with fibre optic lights and touch & feel blankets are provided, which can be calming to those living with dementia. Residents participate in cooking sessions and enjoy the aromas of bread, scones and cakes - and, of course, sampling the finished product over a cuppa! We promote family values at Ashminster, and those we support can enjoy reminiscing about family events in the past, including weddings and previous occupations.
Elaine Hilden
I have worked at Ashminster House since 2003, first as a carer then progressing to activities coordinator, which has know as 'Head of Lifestyle'. I have a wealth of experience in my role, as well as NVQs in Health and Social Care, Activities in the Care Setting and Dementia.
I am passionate about fulfilling residents' lives by getting to know each individual with a person-centred approach, learning about their experiences and helping them to express themselves, such as through reminiscing with items of old.
My interests outside of work include antiques, dogs and spending time with my family.
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 Ashminster House Care Home
International Chocolate Day
For International Chocolate Day our residents had a riveting quiz about the origins of the fabulous sweet treat and how it's made as well as tucking in to a selection of chocolates including the ever popular dairy milk!
Trip to Rare Breeds Centre
Residents ventured out to Woodchurch's Rare Breeds Centre to meet the delightful and fascinating variety of animals.
Resident Janet was pleased with visiting the centre as she used to live in Woodchurch. "It's so nice being back here again and seeing the many kinds of animals they keep safe. When I was younger the centre was smaller then what it is now, it's so nice to see how far it's come."
Pimms O'Clock
Residents at Ashminster House had a lovely time out in the sun enjoying a variety of chocolate sweets and treats prepared by our creative catering team. Along with the delicious snacks the residents were treated to a cool serving of freshly made Pimms.
Relaxing in the garden
Our joyful residents ventured outside in our beautiful garden to soak up the lovely sunshine and while some simply basked in the the welcome warm weather, others took to exploring around the vast collection of plants and herbs we grow with keen interest and excitement.
Keeping our brains active
Residents at Ashminster House enjoyed a busy afternoon using their minds and knowledge to get through a fun filled selection of puzzles that included the always popular word search, crosswords, mazes and spot the difference.
Our lovely resident Pamela commented "I always love these sort of things. They're great fun and keep the brain active."
Reminiscing with Stamps
Fred, a resident at out lovely home mentioned how he used to have a wide array of stamps he used to collect in his younger years and always found enjoyment in finding new ones he had never seen before.
During one of our special reminiscing sessions with items of the past our expert Head of Lifestyle Elaine showed Fred a stamp collection of our own that he thoroughly appreciated looking through and discovering many new stamps including from several other countries, much to his delight.
