Activities at Balclutha Court Care Home

Celebrations have been in full swing at Balclutha, as a resident reached her 60th birthday in style. Birthday girl, Sandra, enjoyed a trip to a newly-refurbished restaurant, The Carriages, for a meal accompanied by her friends from the home.

The birthday girl said she is to be spoilt all day and is looking forward to lots of chocolates and birthday cake. Everyone enjoyed the trip and looks forward to a return visit.

Residents and staff at Balclutha laced up their trainers and warmed-up for an afternoon of indoor bowls. Residents got into the competitive sport for a traditional games afternoon. Everyone experienced a blast from the past as they took part, thinking up their best tactics to try to win the game. 

The game was a great success, with everyone sharing ideas of further fun-filled competitions they could play, from Tetris, darts, snakes & ladders and hangman.  

Residents have been discovering their creative sides at Balclutha with regular art therapy sessions in the mornings. With small groups and relaxing music, residents are able to switch off and focus on their painting and their finished works are simple yet spectacular, and are giving people a big confidence boost as well!

This week’s session involved making cards and pictures for their loved ones for Valentine's Day and as they sat together creating their masterpieces, conversation soon turned to what the most romantic gesture they had received!

The team at Balclutha are dedicated to providing a varied activity programme for their residents and residents enjoy their bi-weekly keep fit classes with Active Age. The popular and well attended ‘Keep Fit’ class is part of the homes life enrichment programme providing a ‘5 a day’ concept in which residents have a range of activities on offer that meet social, emotional, cognitive, sensory or physical needs as part of a holistic programme of care.

General Manager, Alison Dickson said “Seated exercise is such a great way to improve our Resident’s wellbeing, and it’s even better to see them having such a wonderful time doing it! Our exercise therapy sessions are just one of the variety of regular activities available for Residents to enjoy at Balclutha Court and we welcome members of the community to join us”.

Residents of Balclutha Court enjoyed a surprise visit on Christmas morning. Staff at the home invited Father Christmas and his reindeer to bring some festive cheer to the residents and their relatives. Putting on his hat, trimming the beard and blasting loud cries of ‘Ho Ho Ho’, he sat with residents and handed out sweet treats.

Alison Dickson, General Manager said: “We had a fabulous day! Father Christmas gave out presents to all the residents.''

Residents at Balcultha had a sweet treat making delicious cakes for the home. Residents had a lovely time chatting whilst decorating their cakes with icing sugar, cherries, chocolate and more, and they all had a wonderful time enjoying their sweet treats for dessert. Residents were also delighted with the cake they made for Christmas which showed the nativity scene.

Alison Dickson, General Manager said: “We are delighted with our interactive group sessions in particular our take on the great British bake off with our very own baking sessions at the home as part of our regular activity sessions.  It was great to see so many of the residents getting involved with the session, as for many of them baking has been a lifelong hobby. We find that the process of mixing certain ingredients and the smells associated with baking can trigger memories and nostalgic feelings, and can be extremely relaxing for residents. After all of their hard work, everyone was able to sit down and enjoy their delicious freshly baked biscuits.”