Activities at Bedewell Grange Care Home

Here at Bedewell Grange we like to encourage our residents to maintain thier hobbies and interests. George has a bugle and has been playing it since he was 12 years old.

George played every remembrance day at the Westoe monument with 7 of his friends. They played the last post followed by a two minuites silence then went on to play Reveille. George reminisced about practicing with his friends and has decided he's going to practice everyday again. George definately got the attention of everyone all the staff came running to see who was playing so well and he definately brought a few tears of emotion from some of our staff.

Well done George!!

Earlier this week Michael and George enjoyed a trip up to St. James Park for our regular visit to Newcastle Uniteds fabulous memory cafe.

Former players Keith Dyson and Raymond Ellison gave an excellent talk on their experiences at the club in the late 60's early 70's. Our gents may not have had great success in the quiz afterwards, however if there had been an award for consuming the most biscuits and enjoying the hospitality they most definantly would have won first prize!

We hope Keith Dysons talk of his 22 goals for the club will serve as a good omen for todays match against Brentford and the Toon Army can secure a win today.

A huge amount of thanks must go the memory cafe for continuing to give our wonderful residents the opportunity to attend every month, it always makes for a very special experiance and an enriching day for all who attend.

We made the most of the sunshine today with a trip down the coast in the Barchester mini bus driven by our fabulous maintenance man Tony.

We wrapped up warm and enjoyed the scenery. It was a trip down memory lane as we drove down the coast road. John showed us all the best pubs to go to. Sarah told us all the names of the streets and how different some places look now.

We stopped off for ice cream at the famous Minchellas. Florence and Bernard opted for strawberry ice-cream and said it was lovely and the cold sea breeze definately didn't stop them enjoying it.

It was a very special day at Bedewell today as we celebrated the 99th Birthday of our lovely Joan.

Born in 1923, Joan looks absolulty marvellous and attributes her youthful looks to leading a full and very active life. She told us she walked or cycled everywhere and had such a happy childhood being brought up in Monkton Village. She remebers the old railway lines, The Lord Nelson being rebuilt and being the youngest of 10 said she never had a dull moment. She has seen a lot of changes through the years and told us she was very lucky that her life had been one of happiness.

We celebrated the big occasion with a beautiful birthday lunch with all of Joans friends at Bedewell. The kitchen laid on a fabulous buffet and Joan had visits all morning from family and friends, receiving lovely cards, gifts and cakes throughout the day.

Starting our Halloween crafts this week we decided to change the traditional pumpkin carving and made a pretty pumpkin flower display.

Our ladies enjoyed making the pumpkin flower display. Dorothy said she forgot how much hard work and mess it makes.

Sarah said it was harder to scoop the turnips out which was what her children used and can remember there wasn't the fancy costumes you get now. Most children made do with a bin liner as a cape and were happy trick or treating.

Our homes enjoyed a wonderful virtual tour of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh with Community Engagement Manager, Charlotte Walker, and Botanic Cottage Operations Co-ordinator, Laura Gallagher.

The residents were thrilled to learn more about the history of the beautiful Garden, which is now a home to an impressive plant collection from around the world.

Charlotte and Laura also gave a demonstration of making fresh herbal tea and were happy to answer our questions.  The virtual experience was truly enjoyed by all who joined.