Activities at Austen House Care Home

Recently our resident Maurice 94, has been recognised for 40 years of outstanding service to the National Association of Retired Police Officers and received a certificate of life membership 

After completing national service, Maurice joined the Reading Borough Police department as a constable within the force. He undertook various duties around the town as became the area constable for Southcote. Alongside gaining experience in National Service, Maurice was asked to set up the physical training unit to train Cadets, which included marching drills; enabling some cadets to participate in the Devizes to Westminster canoe event.

Maurice retired after 25 years of service to the police force and became a member of the National Association of Retired Police Officers. During his time in the Association, Maurice played an active role in the Thames Valley Police Berkshire Branch culminating to him becoming President of the branch.

At the moment, Maurice is our Resident Ambassador and he loves being active, helping people and getting involved in planning future activities and events giving us his valuable suggestions. 

In recognition of the 40 Years Outstanding Service, Austen House organised a party for Maurice and we all had such o lovely day. It was wonderful to see Maurice so happy sharing his experience with friends, family, residents and team members and inspiring everyone around him.

We were very happy to celebrate Book Lovers Day, as we all share a passion for reading.

The day offered us a fantastic opportunity to spend it with our noses in our favourite books. We also had a great debate about reading from print or electronically from a tablet, there were strong arguments from both camps.

Our residents love getting lost in a good book, so they very much enjoyed exchanging information about their favourite books and having discussion about literature, local writers and famous libraries. There are so many wonderful books to discover, everyone enjoyed finding out about new titles to put on their reading lists.

It was a brilliant day.

Here at Austen House we are continually adapting, and finding new ways to make sure every effort is focused on life enrichment opportunities for all of our residents. World Photography Day was a great opportunity for residents and staff to reflect on past experiences by looking at treasured photographs. A photograph has the ability to capture a place, an experience, an idea, a moment in time.

A picture really is worth a thousand words, and photographs play a large part in reminiscence for residents with dementia.

Our residents were thrilled to bring a selection of photos from their collection and talk about happy memories and past experience. They love to look back at their photos and reminisce about when and where the photos were taken. We have spent many happy hours on the day looking at photos, talking about what we love about them and how they make us feel.

Here at Austen House we use the power of the art to inspire people to get creative, connect, learn new skills and most importantly, have fun.

Participating in art and craft activities it is not only enjoyable and a great way to express themselves, it has a real impact on our residents health, wellbeing and quality of life too.

Our Arts & Crafts workshop with Cheryl and Johnny from Creative Mojo boost the residents confidence and wellbeing and recently we created a wonderful Olympic Games display.
Everyone had a great and creative time with family and friends!

We were absolutely delighted to welcome the children from Butterfly Buddies  Intergenerational Friendship, coordinated by Joe and Rebecca, along with children from Earleybird Pre-School, to join us for intergenerational fun, songs and games in our "Under the Sea"  adventure.

Our residents spent time talking, playing and taking part in a wide range of activities with children. Norman, one of our resident said: “It makes my day when the children come”.

It's always so wonderful to see the interaction between the generations and we would like to say a big thank you for all the adventures, smiles and joy that the children are bringing to us every time.
We wish you all a very happy and fun Summer Holiday and we cannot wait to see you again soon!

Staff and residents at Austen House had a fantastic time celebrating World Chocolate Day on July 7, surely one of the best days of the year!

We revelled in all things sweet for World Chocolate Day with a range of chocolatey activities. Our residents enjoyed an exciting tasting experience, where they had the chance to try different chocolate bars from all over the world. Also, we took part in themed quiz, tasted our delicious treats and had a discussion about all things chocolate.

General Manager, Arturas Repkovas, said: “It wasn’t just the residents that were excited when we found out there was a World Chocolate Day, the eyes of all our staff lit up too.  We all had great fun discussing our favourite types of chocolate down the years, it’s amazing how many different chocolate bars and flavours there have been!”

Janice, a resident said: “I have always loved anything to do with chocolate, I don’t think there are many people that don’t!  I have eaten so much delicious chocolate today, I think this has to be one of my favourite celebrations.”