Activities at Cheshire Grange Care Home

As Knit and natter groups go, it can be fair to say the ladies at Cheshire Grange have got the natter bit conquered, but if anyone is expecting knitted goods for gifts you will have to wait a while longer! The knitting machine intrigued our ladies who were used to needles, the activity triggered some great knitting memories including my own knitted party dress and the inevitable knitted swimsuits of the era!

With Aintree Racecourse just down the road we always feel that Ladies Day is a good excuse to push the boat out a bit, not that we really need an excuse!  We asked our Ladies if they’d like to wear fancy hats for the afternoon, but they weren’t keen, but when asked if they’d like a glass of bubbly whilst watching the races there was a resounding yes, after an afternoon cheering on the horses the hospitality team provide the residents with a sumptuous VIP Enclosure Afternoon Tea.

The residents are now looking forward to Ascot, where there have been hints dropped if the weather is good the staff might be providing some ‘virtual’ races round the meadow….watch this space!

Easter is always a busy time at Cheshire Grange and this year Covid wasn’t going to stop the celebrations. Residents and staff were busy making decorations for the home along with Easter bonnets, the hospitality team produced a lovely Easter Sunday menu complete with a sumptuous cake decorated with a nest of chocolate eggs and on the day Easter services were available via tv links and residents also enjoyed an Easter treasure trail and other games and quizzes.

After spending time in quarantine and passing their Covid test the Easter Bunny was able to visit all the ladies and gents and drop of some Easter gifts and everyone agreed it had been an ‘eggscellent’ Easter.

During the pandemic we have had to look at different ways to help our residents stay connected to families and their pasts, we have discovered that photo books are a huge success for many of our ladies & gents. We have suggested to families to make a photo book using one of the many online sites, including favourite family pics and those from the past too and to title the photos in the book, we have found that we now have many fascinating conversations with the residents about their families and finding out new and interesting things about our residents.

The gentle lilt of Irish music drifted through the corridors as the scene was set for Cheshire Granges St Patrick's Day frivolities. The staff all dressed up in different Irish themed costumes and the residents joined in with hats and ribbons. The home was decorated throughout and the hospitality team put together an Irish inspired menu including a Guinness infused cholate mousse. The only thing that was missing was the staff version of River Dance.........

Mother’s Day gave us the perfect reason to wash down the best china and have a sumptuous high tea to spoil all our lovely ladies and we let the gents join in too! The day was filled with cards, flowers, gifts and video calls to families and an afternoon pre-recorded from The Bel Canto Sopranos, not to mention some very big smiles and a few tears too.