Activities at Chalfont Lodge Care Home

Congratulations to Anna Jarosz-Tarsudis, who has been named as a Divisional Winner in the 2020 Barchester Care Awards. Anna is a finalist in the Registered Nurse of the Year category and has been invited to attend an awards ceremony on 8th October, where she will find out if she has won overall.

We were delighted to receive some lovely gifts yesterday from a group of schools in Aylesbury, the parcel included handwritten letters from the school children which residents will be responding to soon.  

Its heart-warming to receive gifts from the community and we are very pleased to share with all the residents and staff at Chalfont Lodge.

This week, after Chalfont Lodge won the Barchester ‘Bake a Cake fit for a queen’ competition, to celebrate the Monarch’s 94th birthday, the residents decided to write a royal song called ‘an Ode to the Queen’. Our programme of daily life enrichment includes a wide range of activities chosen by residents such as art & crafts, exercise and music therapy.

Alex Perkins, activities coordinator said: ‘We started off by asking all the residents in the lounge which words they associate with the Queen. The residents came up with things like ‘stately, Windsor, corgis & horses’ to name a few.

Next we picked a tune we all knew, we tried several, before agreeing the one that worked best was the tune ‘Favourite Things’ from The Sound Of Music. Well known by everyone young and not so young!

Lastly we all matched the words together that rhymed and sounded the best. All of this was done along side our very talented music therapist Louise.

Louise Hamer, Music Therapist at Chalfont Lodge said: “Writing is a really great way of bringing everyone’s together working as a team. It helps with memory and language and is such an enjoyable activity".

The video is now on its way to the Palace and we hope to hear back soon if we are going to be invited to perform at the next garden party!

For some residents at Chalfont Lodge care centre the long awaited reunion with family and friends became a reality recently, as garden visits have now been allowed to commence at the home.

There has been much careful planning and preparation for this moment behind the scenes at Barchester Healthcare, who run Chalfont Lodge care centre. Social distancing was still in place, and homes that are able to take part must have a large accessible garden.

It was welcome news to so many residents, family, and friends, who were kept apart for so long following strict government guidance. Residents and their loved ones got together in the home garden and very quickly the garden was fully of joy and chatter.

Alan, husband of a resident at Chalfont Lodge said: “Thank you so much to all of you for organising our visit yesterday. Particular thanks to Alex and Louise who handled the visit brilliantly.  Were there for us, yet unobtrusive, and there for my wife when she became emotional. You both helped my daughter and I feel at ease, and feel welcome, it’s a credit to you all at Chalfont that she has coped as well as she has”.

Raj Boodhoo, General Manager at the home, said: “This has been a much welcomed development in what have been very strange times. The visits are safe and organised, and it was wonderful to see how happy it made the residents. We will of course endeavour to keep up the high standards of care, and continue with our ever evolving life enrichment programme, to keep residents engaged. But this was a lovely day.”

We are welcoming new residents into our home to ensure that we are there for those that need care and support, and have a very clear admission policy and infection control protocols that must be met. Please do give us a call on 01753 888002 if you are looking for care or need any further help.

We all enjoyed a lovely afternoon in the sunshine, on the terrace overlooking the lake. A visit by the ice cream trolley was most welcome, with a choice of traditional flavours we also chose our favourite toppings.

99 anyone?

Traditionally Chalfont Lodge holds a sports day outside in the extensive gardens, however this year we decided to bring the fun indoors!   

Different games for carers to boost their moral and to have fun was the order of the day. Ever mindful to maintain social distancing all the party favourites were enjoyed including musical chairs, a balloon race, and blind fold obstacle to test team work skills!

Plenty of prizes were available, including colourful rosettes for winning teams so everyone joined in. Mugs with '1 in a Million' for carers and a huge hamper for the winning care unit were awarded by our physiotherapy team, Mansukh and Pedro who organised the day

The day came to an end with a show by the team encouraged to flaunt their talent by doing whatever they wanted - we had no idea our staff included such talented singers, dancers and jugglers!