Activities at Bryn Ivor Lodge Care Home

To celebrate Father’s Day we hosted a party ‘Donuts with Dads” and invited families to come together and spend quality time with their fathers or significant male figures in their lives. Everyone had a delightful time with their families who brought flowers and gifts. Everyone enjoyed a selection of delicious doughnuts and being entertained by the wonderful Geoff the Piano Man. Our Resident- singer, Henry, sat at the front row and sang every single song so well that even Geoff the singer, stated him and Henry should become a duo. We are sincerely grateful to everyone who joined us for this memorable occasion.

Every month we host a joint birthday party for our lovely Residents and we try to make it as special as possible. This month we held an incredible joint birthday bash for our 'June babies'! The party was a blast, with an amazing ABBA tribute that had everyone on their feet, singing, and dancing! We enjoyed delicious food, plenty of laughter, and of course, great wine. One of the celebrants, Mair said: “When I woke up this morning I didn’t realise I will spend my day dancing!” From all of us here at Bryn Ivor Lodge we would like to wish our Residents happy birthday and here's to many more years of being our favourite Super Troupers!

As part of Dementia Week all staff members at Bryn Ivor Lodge embarked on a mission to become dementia Friends. As our commitment to providing exceptional care, Barchester Healthcare ensures all staff members receive comprehensive online dementia training. In addition, we have dedicated Dementia Champions who continuously uphold high standards for the care of our residents with dementia. To mark this important week, we have encouraged all team members, from admin to hospitality, kitchen to care staff, to become 'Dementia Friends'. You can join this initiative on the Alzheimer’s Society website www.dementiafriends.org.uk

We eagerly await our special badges, which will be proudly displayed by all staff.

We were very honoured to be invited by Carleon Roman Museum to embarked on a special Dementia Friendly tour. Our group had the privilege of being guided by our very own tour guides, who began the session by sharing insights about Roman gardens, herbs, and their medicinal uses. We engaged in a delightful activity of identifying herbs by their smell and taste. The second part of the tour took us to the Roman barracks, where we delved into the world of the Roman Army and even had the opportunity to handle some authentic Roman memorabilia. The staff of the museum was full of knowledge and our Residents were very grateful for their warm welcome and a really pleasurable and interesting tour, diolch!

Wow, you won't believe how amazing this month's Pudding Club was! Our residents were spoilt for choice with a mouth-watering selection of puddings. One of our residents, Mair, while enjoying her fourth pudding exclaimed, "No dinner for me tonight!". The choices this month were Bara Brith, Welsh Cakes, Biscoff No-Bake Cheesecake, Orange Jelly with cream, Coffee Choux Buns and our Activities Coordinator Anna even prepared a Polish pudding called Budyń! While we were enjoying this massive selection of delicious puddings we had James the violinist playing some well-known tunes in the background.

And the winner of our Pudding Club competition this month was…. (drumrolls please!)… Biscoff No-Bake Cheesecakes and Welsh Cakes joint 1st place! 

But wait, there's more! We were privileged to have Councillors Rhian Howells and Kate Thomas from Newport City Council

visit us. They took the time to sit down and chat with our residents, and even went on a lovely walk around our beautiful home. It was truly an exciting and memorable event for everyone involved!

The power of a single picture is truly remarkable. Today's session with Ranntastic was a testament to this fact. The images captured tell a million positive stories, and we feel incredibly fortunate to welcome these wonderful parents and their little ones each week. Our residents simply can't get enough of the cuddles, and Lisa, the owner of Ranntastic, keeps them engaged with her beautiful singing and dancing to nursery rhymes and timeless classics.

It's truly a beautiful thing to see how much love and joy can be spread through such simple and innocent interactions.