Activities at Collingtree Park Care Home

Thank you to Gaye for bringing Eva along to our care home to support our residents with Pets As Therapy Our residents loved petting, feeding and cuddling up with Eva and hearing about her many holidays to the beach with her family. We're already looking forward to seeing you again soon!

This morning our residents have been involved in planning our 'Summer Menu' in a meeting with Chef Jennifer. Residents discussed their favourite starters, main courses and desserts, and were invited to share ideas with chef about what they would like to see on the upcoming menu this August.

Chef also made attendees some fruity cookies and juices to keep them refreshed during the meeting. We look forward to seeing the new menu!

During Dementia Action Week we celebrated the power of music!

Music of all types can stimulate memories, induce laughter and song all particularly beneficial for those living with dementia. One of our resident’s favourites’ Alan Salter uses his keyboard skills to take our residents down memory lane and always gets the crowd singing and dancing.

To celebrate Dementia Action Week we at Collingtree would like to wish our fabulous volunteer Sharon good luck for her 31 Miles in May walk for Dementia UK  Sharon's lovely parents lived with us at Collingtree Park, and Sharon has continued to support with many of our community events including our monthly Dementia Café.

Good luck with your fundraising and the walk. You're a star!

To mark International Family Day we have spent the afternoon sharing stories and memories of our favourite memories!

Residents shared stories about their families, including how Jean and Margaret met their spouses, Martin's cherished family pets and Pam having 'hundreds of grandchildren!'.

We've had a chocoholic day in celebration of 200 Years of Cadbury!

Staff and residents were treated to an afternoon of nostalgia and delicious memories when they were joined by Cadbury archivist Sarah Foden and Brand Manager Connor Gould for a talk from the nation’s favourite chocolate brand.

Since the opening of its first shop in Birmingham in 1824, Cadbury has delighted the nation with its confectionary and drinking chocolate. It has been with us throughout every day and seasonal moments, even popping out of our 99 ice cream cones on the beach. It’s the brand behind our favourite selection boxes, as well as the Cadbury Dairy Milk we unwind with on the sofa. Tastes we’ve known for generations – these have long been a part of Britain’s rich cultural history and the lives of Brits across generations.

Sarah and Connor walked the Barchester residents through the story of the brand’s great success from the very first shop to how Cadbury is celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2024. They shared photos from down the years, examples of old packaging and ad campaigns from the Cadbury archive in Bournville. The carefully selected archive material tells the story of an iconic British brand, this year celebrating its 200th anniversary that has been part of people’s lives through generations, in moments big and small. The brand’s rich history evoked all kinds of nostalgic memories for the residents who all have their own Cadbury memories.

Connor Gould, Brand Manager at Cadbury, said: “It is so rewarding to take part in such a special event as this – we just loved entertaining all the residents this afternoon, especially when it got to the quiz – they all had their own special memories of the brand to share, which was so rewarding to hear. Thanks to everyone at Barchester who joined us. It was wonderful to be able to share our brand story with you all and to hear about what Cadbury means to you.”

Home Manager; Nikki Allen said: “What a wonderful afternoon we’ve all had, our residents have grown up eating Cadbury chocolate bars, so they were really interested to hear about how the company first came about and how it has evolved over the years.”