Activities at Cubbington Mill Care Home

Staff and residents were treated to an interactive virtual Christmas-themed floristry masterclass courtesy of Master Florist, Michal Kowalski, from Blooming Haus - Floral Engineers.

Blooming Haus, is one of the UK’s most innovative floral design and artisan studios. With sustainability and seasonality at the core of their designs, the duo behind Blooming Haus - Michal Kowalski and his business partner, Michael Dariane, bring a completely fresh approach to floristry and their ambition to push the boundaries of traditional floristry has laid the foundations of Blooming Haus’ success to date.

Residents and staff were invited to gather together flowers and foliage chosen by themselves and follow Michal’s demonstration to create their own Christmas wreaths. Residents’ arrangements will be entered into a Facebook competition judged by Michal and Michael to win Love2Shop vouchers.

General Manager, Dimpho Kavanagh, said: “It was wonderful that our residents were able to follow along and create their own Christmas wreaths. It was a really enjoyable afternoon, we’re so grateful to Michal and Michael from Blooming Haus for this experience.”

Residents at Cubbington Mill celebrated World Clarinet Day today with an with a live music performance that took place at the home. Local clarinet player Tim Dutton performed a selection of popular jazz songs. Residents joined in with the singing, and clapped along as he performed the finale song Buona Sera by Dean Martin.

General Manager, Dimpho Kavanagh said, “Our residents had a wonderful day celebrating World Clarinet Day with Tim. We do our best to provide a wide range of activities and entertainment at Cubbington Mill as part of the lifestyle enrichment programme for residents, and this was one of our favourites!”

One resident said “I haven’t heard some of these songs in many years. The classics never go out of style!”

Staff and residents at Cubbington Mill commemorated Remembrance Day on Sunday 14 November. They joined the rest of the United Kingdom in holding a two-minute silence at 11am.

As well as marking Remembrance Day by wearing poppies and watching the televised service from The Cenotaph, residents got creative and made handmade poppies for the Morrisons Leamington Community Store. Using glitter, tissue paper and paint they took inspiration from various artworks including Claude Monet’s painting, ‘Poppies’.

Residents weren’t the only ones getting busy, the children at Caterpillar Nursery made us some wonderful 3D style poppies for our very own display in the home.

Staff and residents commemorated the signing of the Armistice Day agreement on the day that the guns finally fell silent. They joined the rest of the United Kingdom in holding a two-minute silence at the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, of the eleventh month.

As well as marking Armistice Day by wearing poppies and observing the national two minute silence, residents enjoyed a live event hosted by English National Ballet. Associate Dance Artist, Richard Bermange, led a creative dance workshop which was followed by a special extract of Akram Khan’s work Dust. Dusk premiered in 2014 as part of their Lest We Forget programme, commemorating the First World War. They were then invited to sing along to their favourite wartime songs which were accompanied by piano, Vera Lynn’s ‘We’ll Meet Again’ was sang with heartfelt emotion across the home.

Zoe, a resident at Cubbington Mill said: “It is very important that we keep the memories of those who fought alive and that we also think about those involved in conflicts around the world today.”

Dimpho Kavanagh, General Manager at Cubbington Mill, said: “We have many residents with personal ties to the military and many who have experienced conflict either at home or abroad so it was important to us to mark November 11th and honour the contribution of everyone involved in the World Wars and in subsequent conflicts.”

Following a recently visit from Guide Dog speakers Carrie and Marie-Claire, resident Christine mentioned her beloved Guide Dog stud, Kane. Christine took on the role of Breeding Dog Holder and raised Kane for 8 years before he moved to a new home to live out the rest of his life. Kane was a very special dog not only to Christine but also to Guide Dogs UK as he made history as the first stud to have his embryo’s frozen!

Carrie, a Breeding Dog Holder from Guide Dogs UK paid Christine a special visit recently with her retired stud dog, Bobby. They spent the afternoon discussing the role of a Breeding Dog Holder/Volunteer for Guide Dogs UK and the passion which they both share. Christine recalled memories of raising Kane and his wonderful personality which was much like Bobby’s. Kane sired over 200 puppies thanks to Christine’s support and dedication.

Staff have heard all about the wonderful Kane and his beautiful pictures are displayed in Christine’s room for all to see. Everyone at Cubbington Mill knows just how much he meant to Christine so they all wanted to be there to see the smile on her face when she met Bobby for the first time.

In response to this wonderful surprise, Christine, said: “I feel so lucky to have met Carrie and Bobby who remind me how important the role of a Breeding Dog Holder for Guide Dogs UK is. It has been lovely to talk to someone who I share similar experiences with and I have loved hearing about how the charity has progressed throughout the years. They help so many people in the UK and these dogs are so special to everyone who has had a chance to be helped by them. I want to thank the staff at Cubbington Mill for making this possible and a big thank you to Carrie for taking her time out to see me. I am so glad Bobby is just as loved as Kane was.”

Dimpho Kavanagh, General Manager at the home, said: “We want everyone we care for to know how important they are to us here at Cubbington Mill. It was so nice to see how happy Christine was – and the staff loved being a part of this as well.”

On the 4th November we celebrated the start of the Hindu festival of Diwali, popularly known as the ‘festival of lights’. Diwali honours Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, the lamps help Lakshmi find her way into people’s homes.

Residents helped with making colourful patterned rangoli and had a go at the traditional card game Teen Patti. Chef, David prepared a traditional Indian curry for the residents to enjoy for lunch today. We were joined by carer, Nishta in the afternoon who showcased her beautiful Indian dress to residents. Divisonal Hospitality Manager, Christophe joined for celebrations and put on a fantastic magic performance for them.

Zoe resident at Cubbington Mill commented: “I love all of the different cultural events that we celebrate here, there’s always something going on. I especially like the religious festivals from other cultures, it makes me feel like I am travelling abroad!”

Dimpho Kavanagh, General Manager at Cubbington Mill, said: “To celebrate Diwali at the home was fantastic, the colourful decorations created a very wonderful atmosphere and our chef excelled himself – everyone had a fantastic time.”