Activities at Chacombe Park Care Home

Residents enjoyed an evening minibus trip out to support this year’s Christmas tractor run in aid of Katherine House Hospice. Residents enjoyed supper on the road whilst waiting in anticipation for the tractors to arrive. The tractors were highly decorated with lights and Christmas themed designs and toured around the villages in Oxfordshire. We had a fantastic evening watching the tractors pass by the minibus.  

Residents were treated to a fantastic wreath making masterclass with Blooming Haus Florists, afterwards residents put the skills and knowledge they have learnt into practice making their very own Christmas wreaths. Residents went foraging around the garden for the ideal wreath making material before getting to work on their masterpieces.

We went on a tour around the Christmas sights at Blenheim Palace this year, discovering the story of the Nutcracker re-imagined within the Palace rooms, each one exquisitely transformed and filled with hidden surprises from the toy maker's workshop on a frosty Christmas Eve; through the glistening land of snow and onto the candy-cane kingdom of sweets adorned with the sweetest of treats and larger than life gingerbread men. Residents had a wonderful day experiencing a Nutcracker Christmas and enjoying delicious tea and cake provided by Blenheim Palace. After we had experienced The Nutcracker Christmas within the Palace residents had a wonderful evening discovering the light trail around the Palace gardens and browsing the outdoor Christmas market,  soaking up the atmosphere, enjoying delicious hot dogs and a delightful glass of hot chocolate to warm up with.

We have had a wonderful start to the autumn season celebrating harvest time. Residents had a wonderful day out at Blenheim Palace Harvest Festival, browsing the stalls, enjoying delicious food, meeting the Shire horses from Hook Norton Brewery and soaking up the atmosphere. We have also been busy crafting and making harvest displays and wheatsheaf loaves and getting creative with the pumpkins that we picked from a wonderful little farm called Costow farm. We picked pumpkins of all shapes and sizes as well as some delicious freshly baked farm shop cake.

Residents had great fun exploring Banbury Michaelmas fair, remembering the fun they used to have at the fair in days gone by and seeing all the new rides that make the fair today, bringing back floods of memories of the smells and sounds the fair brought to town. Residents Robert gladly remembered the days he spent at the fair in Banbury and going on the dodgems with friends. We even took home some furry friends from winning on the hook a duck stall and of course we couldn’t leave the fair without picking up some sweets and toffee apples!

Residents were treated to a fantastic talk from top photographer, Damien Bailey, who guided the residents through his top tips on taking a photo, and the history of the photo. After the talk, we were all feeling very inspired to get our cameras out and snap a few shots ourselves. Residents chose to use the nostalgic disposable camera to snap their photos with and will later create a scrapbook of all the wonderful shots they have taken, using the tips and techniques Damien taught us.