Activities at Chester Court Care Home
We understand that the people we support have passions and interests that could be difficult to pursue after moving into a care home – but that doesn’t mean we don’t encourage them to try! Some hobbies can define a person, so our Activities Coordinator is dedicated to ensuring that everyone we support is able to do what makes them happy to the best of their abilities. Social events are organised with individual tastes in mind and with the idea that residents have the opportunity to try new and exciting things.
Our aim is to make sure that our residents feel they had something to look forward to each day. We have a varied life enrichment programme, both in the home and in the community, and we always ask if there is anything different that residents would like to do. Residents and families approach our Activities Coordinator and comment on how much they enjoy what we do, so that we can continue to develop our programme to the benefit of our residents.
Lauren Corbett
Hi, my name is Lauren and I am the Activities Coordinator here at Chester Court. I joined the team in December 2020 and bring a wealth of enthusiasm to the role. I have just graduated from university in July 2020 and have previously completed work experience at another Barchester home. During this work experience I discovered how meaningful and important activities are for residents and how they can help enhance resident’s lives. Therefore, I decided to become an activities coordinator myself as I feel this is such a rewarding role.
I love working with our Residents here at the home and getting to know them and their families so that I can deliver and support in meaningful activities, keeping them socially stimulated and active as part of our extensive life enrichment calendar. The lifestyle and continued community links are also important.
Read our brochure 'Life-enriching activities' for more information about life in our care homes.
Read our brochure
Activities and Events Partnerships
As part of our bespoke life-enrichment programmes, we host a number of live virtual events in the home on a regular basis through a number of partnerships with places of interest and world class performance companies
Life at Chester Court Care Home
Beautiful bouquets
Our homes had a fantastic time joining members of the Wallace Collection for an amazing sensory session.
During the live virtual experience, our residents explored one of the museum’s most beautiful Dutch flower paintings and learnt new drawing techniques.
We cannot wait to put our creative skills to a test and produce beautiful paintings of our own.
Everyone enjoyed the lovely talk, we all had lots of fun and it’s given us plenty of ideas.
Musical mystery tour
Our homes had a brilliant time with curator Sarah Deters as she took us on a virtual ‘Music Through the Ages’ tour of St Cecilia’s Hall: Concert Room and Music Museum.
Our residents were thrilled to discover weird and wonderful musical instruments, hear their unusual sounds, and find out how instruments have changed over the last 500 years.
The virtual live event explored the world-renown collection of musical instruments on display at St Cecilia’s Hall, Scotland’s oldest concert hall.
Ice, ice baby!
Perfectly timed in the middle of a heatwave, staff and residents at Barchester’s Chester Court care home in Bedlington had a fantastic time celebrating National Ice Cream Day on July 17, a brilliant excuse to sample lots of cooling treats.
Activities Co-ordinator Lauren Corbett booked an ice cream van to come to the homes car park to celebrate the day. Staff and residents were delighted when they heard the classic chimes of the ice cream van from inside the home. Everyone ordered a variety of different ice creams, from sugar cones to classic 99s, to ice cream tubs, magnums, ice lollies and much more!
An afternoon at the Opera
Our homes had a fabulous time with the talented soprano Astrid Joos from Street Theatre. Astrid spoke about a selection of famous operas and our residents were treated to performances of wonderful arias from operas well-known to all, such as ‘Giuditta’, ‘Don Giovanni’ and ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’.
It was a lovely experience, truly enjoyed by all.
Minibus trip to Blyth Beach
Residents enjoyed a minibus trip to Blyth beach where we had a walk along the promenade taking in the beautiful views and smells of the sea air. We went into Blyth beach’s famous ice cream shop, it took us a while to decide which ice cream we wanted as there were too many flavours to choose from! The ice cream definitely lived up to its name and we will definitely be back! As we walked along the promenade we came across a replica MkVII 6 inch Naval Gun unveiled by Col Benjamin Speke Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland and we were also able to see where War Shelters and a Royal Artillery Store used to be. One of our resident was very interested to see this as he used to be in The Royal Navy.
Father's Day
To celebrate Father’s Day we dedicated the day to the men in our home. We spent time reminiscing about their families, played games of dominos and of course enjoyed a pint! Our men also received cards, gifts and visits from their family and loved ones.
Upcoming events
Emergency Services - Take a break on us!
Calling all emergency services personnel, come and take a break with us! There maybe a cake or two available....
Volunteers - Could you make a difference?
Do you have any spare time? Could you make a difference? If you'd like more information on how you could volunteer we'd love to hear from you!
