Activities at Atfield House Care Home

At Atfield House we celebrated our last service with David McClure, the Vicar from St. Johns church and introduced Rachel, who will hold a service at Atfield House once a month from now on. Our Residents were happy to attend David`s last service and wished him farewell. He knows our Residents by Name and has kept services here for many years. But now it`s time to move on for David and we wish him well  in his new parish in Southall. And we welcomed Rachel, who was giving a moving Sermon on remembering.  We all received a yellow ribbon, as a token of remembering, those, that had passed away in the pandemic. Lawrence wore his ribbon, as did many of us on that day! We take this time to say thank you to David for his kindness and dedication to our Residents in keeping it possible for them to attend services in- house.

Valentine's day celebration at Atfield house foster a sense of community and companionship among residents . Staff members organize games , quizzes , poetry readings to entertain residents and uplift's everyone's spirits . Special tea party was heart-warming gathering where families and residents came together to enjoy a delightful afternoon of camaraderie and affection . Decorations adorned with red and pink accents create a festive atmosphere , while soothing background music sets the mood . Our staffs were really busy with gifting roses and chocolates to residents , singing old love songs to them . In the evening  everyone gathered together for a special romantic movie screening , they had a glass of sherry with fun and laughter. Valentine’s day at Atfield house immerse residents in to a nostalgic tour of good memories.

Atfield House Residents enjoyed an outing to the Hindu Temple, Jalaram Jupadi Temple in Hounslow. We arranged this especially on the request of one of our Residents, who used to work there. He and another Resident, who are from an Hindu background and Residents , who were generally interested to experience an Hindu Temple joined the outing. We were also glad for family members to join and support their loved ones on the outing It was only a short journey from Atfield House and we were glad to reach in time to experience the Temple and join the Prasad, meaning food, that was offered to the gods before-hand. On entering the Temple, we all had to remove our shoes, before entering the Temple room. It was a truly emotional experience for Krishnakant, who had not been to the Temple for over 3 years! He was deeply moved, when he entered the temple and was assisted with the food by a friend from the Temple later on. We all  enjoyed the trip and kind gesture offered to us, by inviting us for the Prasad, the Temple experience and the peace, that comes with the devotional atmosphere!

As we welcome the year of dragon, we are filled with hope, positivity and the promise of new beginnings. We at Atfield house are always delighted to share the festivities that brought our community together in a spirit of joy, unity, and cultural appreciation. In this year’s Chinese new year amidst colourful decorations and aroma of traditional delicacies, home was transformed into a hub of celebration during our events. Residents engaged in learning to craft intricate paper lanterns and beautiful Chinese calligraphy connecting with the artistic heritage of china. The air was filled with the aroma of delectable dishes as everyone savoured authentic Chinese cuisine symbolising luck, prosperity, and happiness. Residents were excited after seeing the special Geisha costume of our staff in our dining area. Mabel, one of our residents, was very happy to see the decorations around the corridor, commented that it takes her back to old Singapore days where she worked as a nurse and enjoyed a lot during Chinese New Year.

Our first Poetry club meeting this year was called Winter poetry writing. We started the session by reading a winter poem. To be correct, we started with offering a glass of white or red wine, which was welcomed by everybody. Then we took a walk into our memories of best winters, and already we had a starting point of joyful winter memories, ice- skating on a village pond with borrowed skates from Mrs. ......the teacher. We carried on walking down memory lane and memories of winters with rushened coals emerged, when people had to keep the curtains closed and huddle up, wearing  their warmest winter clothes and  lighting  indoor candles . Soon everybody had contributed a bit from their special winter memories and our winter  poem was completed. Some of our Residents then started reciting poems, they knew by heart and every Resident felt that they could be a poet too!

On international Flower Day, we awaited in anticipation to unwrap the flowers, that we wanted to use to decorate our pine arch, which leads into the main dining room. Residents enjoyed posing with the flowers and helped to reshape the individual buds! We tried to name the flowers too and Kathleen knew them so well and told us how she used to grow peonies in her garden. We all gathered in the hallway to decorate the arch. With help of Sylvia, Kathleen, Gillian and Beryl and Jean, and visitors and pliers, we were able to get a very pleasing result. The Arch looks colourful, uplifting and welcoming the spring season. We are now awaiting some birds to inhabit our lovely flower arch to greet our Residents on their daily visit to the dining room.