Activities at Denmead Grange Care Home

Our residents and the local community enjoyed a fabulous afternoon raising money for Children in Need. We came together in the afternoon to enjoy fun games, music and delicious tea and cake!

This years Children in Need fundraising game was Bear Pong, a take on the familiar game, "Beer Pong". Players must bounce the ball on the table and into one of the red cups. Each cup is worth a certain amount of points! Yvonne Kingston had the highest mark and won a beautiful Christmas Hamper! We also played a huge game of Pudsey Bingo where many prizes were won.

Last week, we used our creative sides to produce wonderful Sock Snowmen! We used plain white socks and filled them with rice to create their round bodies. We then personalised them and made them come to life with colourful fabrics, buttons, googly eyes and ribbons! They look amazing around the home; they have pride of place sitting on shelves, window ledges and bedside tables, all ready for December!

The Age UK Portsmouth weekly MCST sessions here at Denmead Grange are going really well, the sessions happen on Thursday mornings and there are a few places left if you would like to come and join us.

Maintenance Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (MCST) is a weekly group programme designed for people who have been newly diagnosed or who have been living with mild to moderate dementia.

Group members take part in meaningful and stimulating activities that are proven to help maintain memory and mental functioning, during gardening week we made pots with our faces on them and planted bulbs ready for the spring. As well as doing great activities that help stimulate the brain the group also provides a fun, supportive environment where people can build new friendships.

All of the activities are chosen to be both stimulating and fun. An important aspect of the group is being able to socialise and share experiences with other members. The groups are relaxed and light-hearted, and group members are encouraged to support each other

if you or a loved one are in the early stages of dementia and would like to come along please contact Kandy Lucas at Age UK Portsmouth on 02392 862121 or our Home Services Advisor Jacqui Tucker on 02392 263470 to find out more.

In memory Lane we like to bring a bit of magic to our home through some of the most advance technological solutions to enhance our residents’ engagement.

Our residents love using our Magic Table and exploring the great variety of sensory interactive games, which research has shown are able to have a positive effect on those living with dementia through sensory stimulation, relaxation and reminiscence.

We also have empathy dolls, some of our residents find emotional and physical comfort from the opportunity to hold our empathy doll. The experience of holding a doll takes our residents back to a time when they were parents. It’s a natural instinct to cradle a baby and the effect of comforting someone else can also produce positive feelings.

Every month, at Denmead Grange Care Home, we enjoy a flower arranging session to create amazing bouquets to place around the home. Residents come together with a vase and fill it with their favourite flowers. 

As you can see from the photos, our residents were so pleased with their arrangements; some creators wanted to have their own work in their rooms, whilst other chose pride of place in a lounge or corridor. It really does give a wonderful accent to the home, making a bright and beautiful feature for residents, visitors and staff to enjoy. Well done to all the florists of Denmead Grange!

We are proud to announce that our very own Lloyd Kingston has been crowned Activities Coordinator of the year at this year’s Barchester Care Awards.

More than 2,950 nominations were received from our homes and hospitals across the UK. All entries were a very high standard and Lloyd is over the moon to have been named National Winner, beating hundreds of other nominees.

Lloyd joined winners from across the UK at a special awards event on the 12th of October to celebrate their outstanding achievements and to receive their awards.

Well done and huge congratulations from everyone at Denmead Grange