Activities at The Dales 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 Coordinators are 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.
Kay Thompson
Hi, my name is Kay and I am the activities coordinator here at the Dales. I joined the team in June 2021 and I love spending time with the residents each day, delivering meaningful activities that keep our residents active and social stimulated, more importantly we have fun! Our life enrichment programme is varied and we have lots to do!
Before I joined the home I was a lecturer teaching young individuals with high needs, it is very different being an activities coordinator but it does help with understand how to ensure everyone is happy each and every day in everything that we do.
I look forward to meeting you when you visit our home.
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 The Dales Care Home
Winter Olympics
We enjoyed making our Olympic torches before the Winter Olympics started. We joined in here at The Dales with the introduction. Next was to so our own winter games of snowman bowling and table top hockey.
National Umbrella Day
A lovely International Umbrella Day here at The Dales. Using card, straws, glue and pencils for colouring. We gave the card come lovely colours all over before folding many times in different directions to create umbrella shapes, to finish with all we needed to do was attach a card straw.
Happy Valentines
The Dales care home, in Draughton, was filled with flowers, cards and sweets in celebration of St Valentine’s Day. Staff and residents celebrated the day of love by creating cards for their loved ones and enjoyed a fun time having their pictures taken with Valentine’s props in the homes especially created photo booth before finishing their day with pink love cupcakes and a cup of Yorkshire tea.
General Manager, Roisin Doyle said: “We’ve all had a lovely day decorating the home and making gifts for each other and for our loved ones. Lots of our residents were able to see their loved ones either in person or via video call. We’ve had a whole range of treats and Valentine’s themed fun and we have enjoyed every moment of it!”
A pudding fit for a Queen
Excitement is running high at The Dales Care Home in Draughton where residents and staff have been cooking up a storm to enter the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee pudding competition. Details of the competition were announced on January 10th and the home immediately got busy to come up with, what they hope, will be a pudding fit for a Queen.
The competition is being run by Royal Warrant holders, Fortnum & Mason, to create a pudding that the whole nation can bake for themselves and that will be served not only at Jubilee parties up and down the country, but to the Queen herself to celebrate her 70 years on the throne. Competition is fierce and only the best recipes will make it through to a live bake off judged by the Queen of Puddings herself, Dame Mary Berry, and Masterchef’s Monica Galetti in March.
Heavenly cookery demo
We had a lovely time joining Chef Alex Connell from Vegetarian for Life for a Valentine’s-inspired virtual cookery demonstration. Chef Alex created some delicious Valentine’s Day-inspired vegetarian desserts, which our residents had the opportunity to try too.
First, our residents sampled a wonderful sticky toffee pudding, which was absolutely heavenly. Then they tried hazelnut truffles which were a huge hit and finally they were treated to a chocolate orange cake which everyone adored.
Long service celebrated
A Carer at The Dales in Draughton has received a prestigious 2022 Year Service Award in celebration of working at Barchester Healthcare for 10 years.
Sonia Carvalho, now carer started at Barchester in January 2012 and has worked with residents and their relatives to ensure that their needs have been met over the years.
Jane McFarlane, Employee Services Director at Barchester said: “I’m always pleased to hear stories about the long service of Barchester staff and am delighted Sonia Carvalho has achieved this milestone. It is dedication like this that ensures our residents are provided with a happy place to live.”
