Activities at Derham House Care Home

Today at Derham house we had our summer fete the morning of the fete was glorious sunshine as with all the big events it takes months of planning, so it was a welcome sight to see the sun.

There was stalls a plenty from crochet and tombola stalls, to Mr Toasties burger van selling burgers and hotdogs to his scrumptious scones and clotted cream which went down an absolute storm pardon the pun.

Making a return for the second year was our Havering classic cars club which are always welcome.

The day was filled with great music from our entertainers in the morning we had the lovely Carly Callaghan who sang songs from musicals and a selection of golden oldies but the highlight was her serenading one of the gents to I’ve had the time of my life from the film dirty dancing leaving the gentleman blushing LOLS in the afternoon we welcomed back the talented Brian Shaw who sang songs from 40s 50s 60s and a few from the 70s.

Also returning was the lovely Luigi who the residents love with his Mr whippy ice creams YUMMY. 

We would just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who helped make this day a great success and to the families who also came to support us.

We look forward to the next one.

This week we enjoyed a special animal therapy session in the form of two adorable pygmy goats!

The home was full of mischief, when the two little pigmy goats came to visit, they showed their cheeky character wondering about the home and garden. Residents enjoyed cuddling and interacting with the goats.

Residents said 'it was wonderful the animals were free to roam amongst us, what a lovely afternoon'

Animal therapy is one of the cornerstones of our life enrichment program and features regularly on our resident-led weekly acitivity planner.

The residents always look forward to animals visiting as it reduces stress.

Care home residents often face various forms of stress, such as adjusting to a new environment, dealing with health issues, or coping with the loss of independence Improves mood and lowers blood pressure and heart rate and reduces feelings of loneliness improves physical health and most importantly brings back happy memories.

The residents had lots of questions regarding the age of Hudson and his origin so we gave them a history lesson on the breed. The breed takes its name from the Swiss canton of Berne, where it was developed as a draught dog, pulling carts for the weavers of that area. They were also used as a general farm dog, herding sheep and cattle and also pulling milk and cheese carts.

The Bernese is one of the four Swiss mountain dogs which carry the rich black and tan colouring with white markings on the chest which some say represents the cross on the Swiss flag.

In Switzerland the breed often takes part in parades, pulling a light cart, with its owners wearing Swiss national costumes: a wonderful sight.

The residents look forward to seeing him again soon.

We have a large memory garden with a rowing boat that was turned into a flower bed which the cubs had previously planted which needed a bit of attention, so they so they bought the plants to spruce the areas up. This activity counts towards one of their many badges.

The boys arrived at 6.30pm but they was bursting with energy so the scout leader set them a task to do a sprint to one tree and back off they ran obviously a few cheated so was made to do it again LOL, they was then put in to pairs.

They dug, weeded and planted. Then patted down the plants and carefully watered them. Our residents watched from their rooms in the warm so some of the cubs came into the lounge and chatted to them and also visited them in the rooms one gentleman gave them sweets so they gave him a big hug.

We would just like to say a big thank you to 2nd Cranham Cubs and the scout leaders who worked very hard you are always welcome at Derham House.

Today at Derham house the residents finally had the weather for the beach so we all took a trip to Southend-on-Sea.

The day really was perfect as we sat on the broadwalk for lunch, one lady asked if she could walk on the beach she also brought back some shells. 

Southend-on-Sea commonly referred to as Southend, is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. 

It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, 40 miles (64 km) east of central London. It is bordered to the north by Rochford and to the west by Castle Point. 

London Southend Airport is located north of the city centre It is also home to the longest pleasure pier in the world when asked if the residents wanted to walk it NOT ON YOUR NELLY was their answer LOL.
Southend-on-Sea originally consisted of a few poor fishermen's huts and farms at the southern end of the village of Prittlewell.
In the 1790s, the first buildings around what was to become the High Street of Southend were completed. In the 19th century, Southend's status as a seaside resort grew after a visit from Princess Caroline of Brunswick, and Southend Pier was constructed.
From the 1960s onwards, the city declined as a holiday destination. 
Southend redeveloped itself as the home of the Access credit card, due to its having one of the UK's first electronic telephone exchanges. 
After the 1960s, much of the city centre was developed for commerce and retail, and many original structures were lost to redevelopment which the residents commented on why the light structures was so high and twisted in shape, the structures are high to light up the walkway but wasn’t sure of the twisted design. 
An annual seafront airshow, which started in 1986 and featured a flypast by Concorde, used to take place each May until 2012.
On 18 October 2021, it was announced that Southend would be granted city status, as a memorial to the Conservative Member of Parliament for Southend West, Sir David Amess, a long-time supporter of city status for the borough, who was murdered on 15 October 2021. 
Southend was granted city status by letters patent dated 26 January 2022. 
On 1 March 2022, the letters patent were presented to Southend Borough Council by Charles, Prince of Wales. 
Some of the residents also got to play on the penny slots which was great fun while some went into the trinket shops where one gent bought a magnet for his board in his room as whenever he goes to the coast he buys one so we kept with his tradition. 
Before leaving you cannot leave the seaside without an ice cream and hot doughnuts all very naughty. 
All in all a very successful trip.
 

Today at Derham house we hopped on board the Derham Express and took a trip to Maldon Promenade Park. Located on the sloping bank of the river Blackwater, Maldon's Promenade Park has been a popular leisure location for over a hundred years.

Avenues of mature trees and recreation areas lead down to the ornamental lake complete with fountains and resident swans and other birds and wildlife. Smaller children will love the sand pit, which is located at one end of the lake.

The pit is adjacent to one of the many refreshment kiosks in the park, so you can relax with a cup of tea and watch the kids enjoying themselves. There is also a seafood bar which is open on weekends and bank holidays.

The residents had a great time we stopped for lunch and was swamped by the starlings and gulls looking for a freebie.

After lunch we had a leisurely walk along the promenade were a lovely lady stopped with her pooch a very friendly Shih Tzu who was happy for the residents to pet him with his tail wagging in acceptance.

Before leaving we all sat down for a luscious Mr Whippy ice cream and in keeping with dementia action week and celebrating Cadburys we all had a flake as well MMMMM was the reply from one of the ladies we know that she was definitely enjoying it.

Unfortunately nothing lasts and we had to jump back on the Derham Express were our Chauffer AKA Andy was ready to take us home we can honestly say the bus was a quiet one home as they was very tired including the Staff J