Activities at Dudwell St Mary Care Home

The residents enjoy getting involved with all aspects of the day in the home. On Thursday 25th, after discovering they had one of their favourite salad dishes for the evening meal, they asked to make something to add to it.

With the help of Amy from activities, and a thorough discussion on what they wanted to make, they decided on small savoury tarts, like a mini quiches.

The residents took turns to mix, roll, cut and fill the pastry cups with cheese and tomato, followed by filling with the egg mix.

Smelling their pastries cook made the residents talk about the different ways they used to make them as children, and the different fillings they would put in.

Needless to say, not a single crumb or pasty was left!

Residents enjoyed some delicious ice cream to cool off during the recent bout of hot weather.

We delighted residents with  some old favourites, including cockles and muscles! Each resident that requested them was given a small dish of their seaside favourite and an authentic wooden fish fork to eat them with. As their lunch was served, their chips were placed in a fun chip cone. Lots of singing and giggles followed and naturally there was lots of smiles all round.

Over the last couple of weeks our wonderful residents, with the support of Amy from activities, have been creating 2 boards of gratitude for the staff at the home. They individually created hearts and diamonds using a selection of crafts and a tremendous amount of glitter!

They wanted to make sure all the staff knew how much they were appreciated during this difficult time and asked that the word ‘THANK YOU’ was displayed in the native tongue of some of the staff members too. On Thursday 28th May the boards were presented to the staff who were overwhelmed with the kindness and love that had gone into creating the beautiful displays.

Our Deputy Manager, Joao, commented that when the lockdown is lifted the boards will be positioned within the 2 reception areas for the relatives and other visitors to see when they come to the home.

One of our residents had expressed a passion for a vegetable garden. He sat with one of our staff members that he is fond of, Amy, and they talked for a long time about allotments and vegetable patches. They shared pictures of what they had both grown and Reg was very happy. Every day he has his veg chat and it brings a smile to his face.

To help with his passion, and also as a keen gardener herself, Amy created a designated area for Reg where he could grow bits and pieces. He was overjoyed at the result. Amy has helped him keep a growing diary that he often sits and looks at, referring to them as his ‘babies.’

Many other staff members now go up onto Reg’s floor and he proudly shows them Reg’s Veg Patch.

On 30th April one of our residents celebrated his landmark birthday. He is a war hero and remembers proudly how he fought for his country during the war, keeping a special newspaper article close by telling his beautiful story always brings a tear to whomever reads it.

Our resident was spoiled, and quite rightly so, by one of his favourite carers Rosalyn Everton. She came to work early to decorate the whole of the floor in balloons and  bunting all in a very posh gold and black that he thought was amazing, not only this, Rosalyn by her own kind heart arranged for his telegram from the queen.

They was both emotional for this moment in the giving and receiving. The celebrations were then carried on with all his favourite foods and a beer, lots of music and dancing made his day super special, like him.