Activities at Cepen Lodge Care Home

Birthday celebrations were in full swing all day to ensure Melvina marked her centenary in style. Joined by staff, relatives, friends and other residents she not only received a card from King Charles and Queen Camilla, Melvina was surprised to receive over 300 birthday cards from school children, and others unknown to her from across the UK, all sending their best wishes  in recognition of her landmark birthday.

The home organised a party with live entertainment from Mini Concerts and a lavish buffet of savoury snacks, sweet treats and fizz before guests enjoyed a slice of the special birthday cake made and decorated by the home’s Activities Coordinator; Anita.

Bristol born Melvina left school at 15 and spent her working life in various administrative roles, the last being with The Royal Mail in which she signed the Secrecy Act as it involved handling Home Office correspondence. At 23 years old Melvina married the love of her life Len, a Naval Officer who she met during an August Bank Holiday dance at Page Hall, when he ‘cut-in’ and became her dance partner for life!

Len and Melvina were blessed with a daughter, Karen who gave them a granddaughter Jennifer, who is married to Stephen and in turn have graced Melvina with two amazing great-grandchildren; Sienna and Harlow who light up her life on every visit.

As an additional surprise Melvina received a ‘Family History Binder’ from Kirsty Gray, Managing Director of Family Wise Limited who generously created Melvina’s family tree dating back to 1700’s!

The birthday girl, said: “I thought my birthday would be a quiet affair, spent with my family however Anita had other ideas.” When asked what she thought of the day Melvina replied “‘Fantastic’ there’s no other word for it”.

Our Baking Club was in full swing this week, and what a treat it was! The ladies worked together to bake a classic Victoria sponge, filling the home with the most wonderful smells.

From mixing and whisking to the all-important finishing touches, everyone played a part — and the final result was absolutely delicious. A lovely afternoon of teamwork, laughter, and of course… cake!

Resident; Jean loves it when the students from Hardenhuish School visit to chat. Sophie and Emily were a delight.  This sort of interaction is made possible through our close links with local schools, colleges and nurseries. Intergenerational activities are a cornerstone of our life enrichment program. 

To honour the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, we immersed ourselves in a Ceilidh and of course, gave the time-honoured address to the ‘Great chieftain O’ the pudding’ race’ – the haggis.

Surrounded by Scottish flags our celebrations began with powerful tones of the bagpipe courtesy of sensational piper; Ruby Derbyshire. Mr McPherson our resident Scotsman hosted the main event adorned in the famous Tartan!

We enjoyed a traditional Scottish feast of delicious Haggis, Neeps and Tatties followed by Cranachan and Scottish Shortbread, prepared by our talented chef.

We had a great time celebrating Robert Burns and the Scottish culture finishing the celebrations off with a ‘wee dram’ and beautiful Scottish songs from Ruby on her guitar. 

What a fabulous day! “The heart that is generous and kind most resembles God.” – Robert Burns 

The regular horse therapy our residents receive from having Happy Hooves Equine Ltd - Equine Assisted Therapy & Transport's Laura visit with the beautiful pony; Vino helps support their emotional well-being.

Our residents love his snuggles and being able to stroke him, even from their beds brings such enjoyment, it’s truly magical to see.

Ethan and Dan bring such joy when they visit from Hardenhuish School. These wonderful lads have been helping us create memory books full of interest for our Memory Lane community residents. The headwear was completely their choice but it certainly added a little more fun to the visit and added sparkle to each resident interaction!

We had a very special day out for our resident Philip when our activities team had the pleasure of taking him on a trip to Boscombe Down Aviation Collection for a special day exploring aircraft, and sharing stories from the past. 

The day was perfectly rounded off with a delicious lunch at the Stonehenge Inn - good food, great company, and plenty of smiles all around. Moments like these are what it’s all about, creating meaningful experiences, one trip at a time.

This morning our lovely residents; Veronica, Sheila and Jane gathered together with Anita to create some beautiful fresh flower displays in preparation for tomorrows Open Day.

They had a lovely time choosing which colourful bloom to place in a variety of containers. The sense of achievement in making something so beautiful and fragrant puts a smile on everyone’s face. Thank you, ladies, you all did a fabulous job. 

Happy National Activity Providers Week!

We’d like to take this opportunity to recognise and thank our wonderful Activity Coordinator; Anita Williams here at Cepen Lodge Care Home - Barchester Healthcare.

We’re proud of each and every one of our team for the unique, outstanding activities and experiences they bring to our residents every single day. Anita leads the way, always goes above and beyond her role and for this we are truly grateful.

As part of the week, our Activities Coordinators have been taking part in a whole host of events provided by NAPA, connecting and sharing ideas with teams across the country.

The joy in our residents faces is clear to see when the children and parents join at Cepen Lodge to attend the Boogie Beat Music & Movement North Wiltshire group. All generations had fun with bubbles, scarves and plenty of music, the session was full of giggles from everyone.

Love was all around for our Valentine’s Day celebrations. Our home was filled with flowers, cards and balloons as we celebrated the day of love with sweet treats and thoughtful gifts to the sound of classic songs.

We marked the occasion by making cupcakes and a fabulous chocolate, cream and strawberry Valentine’s cake before enjoying a sing-along and boogie with Tony Meacock. It was a beautiful day and heart-warming to see everyone come together to celebrate.

Today we celebrated ‘Buddy Holly Day’ with the amazing Tony Meacock who, along with his guitar and sensational singing took us right back to the 50s!

‘Charles Hardin Holley, or Buddy Holly as he was better known, died tragically in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, aged just 22 along with fellow musicians, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson.  He was a pioneering singer-songwriter, hailed as one of the greats of 1950’s American rock & roll, despite his short career.’

Tony did Buddy proud, and we loved every minute!

Did you know we have regular live events at our home? Recently one of our favourites; Tickled Pink Productions performed their ‘Cinderella’ panto for our residents. 

‘When you wish upon a star anything is possible, even with two horrible step sisters! With the help of the Fairy Godmother Cinderella shall go to the ball and meet her handsome, thigh slapping Prince Charming.

Scripted for all ages and abilities to enjoy, and performed in the comfort of our home the pantomime was a roaring success. Our memory lane residents were fully emersed in the story, with the room full or laughter, toe -tapping, tambourine jangling and song.

This afternoon our residents were thoroughly entertained by the fabulous 'Zoe' from Mini Concerts who performed a melody of 'Winter Warmers' to get us all up and grooving.

The power of her voice had our residents singing back every word, and up dancing their socks off!  As she sang you could see the happy memories come flooding back…music really does help enrich lives.

At Cepen Lodge we know that intergenerational activity is hugely beneficial to all involved as it encourages communication and social skills. 

Mix in new technologies such as our large touchscreen table which uses Apps to provide interactive games such as drag and drop jigsaws, wordsearches and musical instruments the activity becomes fun for all ages.

Today's visiting students from Hardenhuish School; Bertie, Dan and Ethan had our Memory Lane residents fully emersed in a 'digital world of discovery'!