Activities at Derham House Care Home

Derham house opened its doors for a dementia friends information day. Our guest speaker, Hillary Sweeney, talked about the different effects of dementia & the impact it has on families & friends.

The two separate sessions were a great success with families joining staff, we also had some of the residents asking if they could attend as they wanted to learn more.

Also a friend of one of the residents came as she wanted a better understanding of how to act around her friend as they were friends from church & only ever known her without dementia.

This month at Derham house we celebrated National Care Home Open Day. We started our day with a visit from the mayor Michael Deon Burton & Councillor Gillian Ford it was nice of them to take time out from their busy schedules to come along to our open day. They had a tour around the home where they met staff members and residents. 

We had our first entertainer Tracy Lee in the morning who kick started the party. We were amazed to see the mayor & the councillor joining us on the dance floor. Our chef then provided a lovely BBQ for everyone, which included: burgers, hot dogs & some lovely salad bowls & some finger foods. 

After lunch we welcomed J&C party pets who brought along a variety of animals, coloured snake, honey bear & two meerkats. The residents enjoyed the animals, we also welcomed our local ice cream man Luigi who provided lovely ice creams from the creamy to lemon sorbet. Our local fire brigade attended too, the fire fighters sat with the residents chatting while enjoying some tea coffee & homemade cakes.

It was a very fun and successful day for everybody. The lifestyle team would like to thank everyone who made the day special including our fantastic staff at Derham, who all chipped in to help.

This month at Derham house we welcomed the Mozart players Julia & Micky. They played a wide variety of music from classical pieces to west end musicals played on a cello & a viola.

They had conversations with our residents and their families regarding classic music. Some of the residents were orchestrating them, others enjoyed the music and relaxed. This music therapy had an amazing effect on the Memory Lane community, everyone was happy and smiliing. 

The Mozart players will hopefully visit us again in the future.

Derham house enjoyed a trip to Lakeside shopping centre. The shopping was lovely. We started off with lunch as one of the ladies wanted to have her favourite dish - pie & mash, whilst another lady had pie for the first time.

Then we had a stroll from shop to shop trying on silly glasses & hats. how funny the ladies even managed to grab a bargain in Primark.

This month at Derham house the residents enjoyed an arts & crafts afternoon. We had fun drawing different animals.

One lady who used to be an art teacher drew a beautiful parakeet & a butterfly, which are animals that we see every day at our lovely home.

The residents love the arts & crafts days, and now the weather is changing for the better, we are planning some arts outside in the grounds.

We had the pleasure of celebrating a diamond wedding anniversary. Her husband told us that he was coming in to have lunch with her, so we surprised both of them & got in touch with the family, who were happy to be in on the surprise. 

We laid on a special buffet with champagne flowers, a lovely fruit platter and, to top it off, a beautiful cake. The activity team decorated the room with balloons and bunting, and dressed the table for lunch with their best china set and the happy couple's wedding photo.

They were very surprised, not only with the way the room was decorated, but with having the family joining them for their special day.

It was a wonderful day for everyone involved!