Activities at Elm Bank Care Home

Residents were excited to welcome the team from Specsavers Audiology for an enlightening afternoon focused on hearing health.

Aadil and Mabil from the Specsavers Audiology department provided an engaging talk for residents, family members, and staff, emphasizing the significance of caring for our hearing. The session highlighted the often-overlooked consequences of hearing loss, such as feelings of isolation, disengagement, embarrassment, and the inability to participate in important discussions.

Both Aadil and Mabil also conducted brief hearing tests and dedicated time to residents who currently use hearing aids. An important takeaway from the session was the fact that our ears continue to grow over time, which can lead to hearing aids becoming too small and potentially affecting their effectiveness.

For those residents unable to attend the presentation, Aadil and Mabil kindly visited them in their rooms to conduct hearing tests, ensuring that everyone had access to this valuable information.

Residents expressed their gratitude for the session, finding it immensely beneficial and gaining a deeper understanding of the importance of maintaining hearing health.

General Manager, Marvellous Bindura said: “Today has been all about reaching out to residents, their family members and staff to provide beneficial information to prevent, delay and protect the health of our hearing and it has been greatly received by all involved.”

The residents and staff at Elm Bank care home in Kettering were delighted in attending the local St Thomas More Catholic Primary School Easter Concert. A magical morning that allowed the residents to immerse themselves in the joy of Easter and all that it has to offer.

Residents were very excited to have been invited to a wonderful morning at their local St Thomas More Catholic Primary School’s Easter Concert. The residents enjoyed an amazing morning of hearing the children sing their beautiful songs and performing their Easter concert. It was a wonderful opportunity for all to reminisce of Easter when they were younger, engaging with each other and the children of the school, sharing stories on how things have changed. Resident Fiona was delighted immersing herself in to the morning of song and prayer.

Resident Fiona said, "It was lovely, to see all the children, I really it, yes everything was just great."

Marvellous Bindura, General Manager said, “It was lovely that the local school opened their Easter Concert to our residents, it means so much to the residents, it allows for the young and the old to mix and the wonderful experiences are shared.  Our residents were overjoyed on their return. I believe as do we all here at the home it is crucial to create links with our local schools and within the community to continue for our residents to remain a part of the community.”

The residents and staff at Elm Bank care home in Kettering were delighted in welcoming the 23rd Kettering Scouts over to their home for an evening of fun and games before they break for the Easter holidays.

Scout leaders, Donna Rockett, Steve Hammond and Mary Docherty came to Elm Bank care home along with many very happy and excited scouts. The 23rd Kettering Scouts will be celebrating 10 years of running next year, they are based in the William Knibb Centre on Montagu Street in Kettering. Donna contacted Elm Bank care home to see if an evening of fun and games would be something that the residents at the home would appreciate. The group have visited the home previously and it was a huge success for both the young and old.

Resident Christine, said, “It is great, they have so much energy and it is nice to see them, I used to look after children when I was younger.”

Donna from the 23rd Kettering Scouts, said, “We have been to the home previously around Christmas time and wanted to return to bring some joy to the residents at for the Easter period. It is lovely as they all have had such a nice time, we really are looking now to create a link with the home so that the scouts can come back and engage in some of the activities that could help them earn their next badge.”

Marvellous Bindura, General Manager said, “It is lovely to see our residents enjoying time with younger people, the enrichment it creates in their lives is recognisable. It is great to have links with the local community groups and for them to come in and spend time with our residents is simply wonderful. Not only is it beneficial for the residents, it is also beneficial for the young children themselves to learn new skills and being with the older generation, the children are able to learn many things about the past, it really is so nice to see the young children and the smiles that they have and the residents have on their faces, it just brings joy to our hearts”.

At Elm Bank we know that intergenerational activity is hugely beneficial to all involved as it encourages communication and social skills. Intergenerational contact also helps to develop language and reading confidence through shared activities, as well as increasing confidence and self-esteem. Lastly it helps children to develop empathy, care and kindness, helping them to understand and talk more positively about ageing and older people.

The residents got creative with creating an Easter cake to put forward in to a Barchester Easter cake competition for the residents.  

It was an opportunity for residents from all communities within the home to get together and get creative. Residents from the dementia communities got together to make a large birds nest base, which consisted of melted chocolate and cornflakes. The activity was enjoyed by many, it allowed for reminisce of times past when they were younger and had families of their own. The other community in the home got together to work on the second layer of the cake, which consisted of three soft sponge cakes. The residents enjoyed decorating the cakes with delightful Easter cake toppers and soft buttercream. Residents spent the afternoon putting their design together and what a sense of achievement was felt by all.

Tina, Activities Co-ordinator said, it was really important for us to ensure that all residents across our homes communities had the opportunity to get involved. Many of the residents at Elm Bank would have created delicious homemade Easter cakes back in the day, for some it was a first and for others it was a chance to share their knowledge. It was an afternoon of simply having lots of fun.

Marvellous Bindura, General Manager said, “It is lovely to see our residents enjoying activities that enrich their lives, for some it brought back memories of when they created delicious Easter cakes and for others it was something new for them to try. To see the engagement of on the faces of the residents was heart-warming”.

National celebrations events are just some of the ways that we ensure the residents at remain connected with the wider Barchester community.

Celebrations have been in full swing at Elm bank, as one of its residents reaches her centenary in style.

Mary was surprised on her big day when she was firstly joined by staff and pupils of Stone Lodge Therapeutic School and later in the day with a huge family get together.

Mary was delighted with the pupils and teachers of the school who presented Mary with beautiful flowers, biscuit’s and a framed photo of Mary at the school during a tea party.  Mary then enjoyed a beautiful afternoon with her family in a private party at the home. Mary also enjoyed a special birthday cake made by the home’s talented chefs, as bourbons are Marys favourite biscuits, the cake was decorated in bourbons and decorated with blue icing, blue being Marys colour of choice.

Marvellous Bindura, General Manager of Barchester Elm Bank care home added: “We’re delighted to be celebrating a truly remarkable woman as she reaches this amazing milestone. Mary is such a popular resident who always has an interesting tale to tell, and we look forward to hearing many more as she breaks into her next century. When we discovered that Mary’s favourite biscuit was a bourbon, the chefs got to work with creating the perfect cake to put a smile on Marys face.”

Our varied life enrichment programme keeps residents active, and provides a daily choice of engaging physical, mental and spiritual activities tailored to residents’ interests and abilities.

Staff and residents had a magical fun packed day raising money for Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day on March 21st.

Staff and residents at the home donned their red tops and got stuck in to help raise funds for this very important cause. The homes talented chefs created delicious cakes and biscuits holding a cake sale at the homes reception, this certainly went down well with staff and visitors making small donations for the perfectly baked treats. In the morning the residents were joined by the staff and pupils from Stone Lodge Therapeutic School who helped the activities co-ordinator in decorating cakes and biscuits with the dementia community residents. In the afternoon the home was entertained by Andy the Ace Magician, performing some delightful tricks that left the residents thinking.

Comic Relief spends the money raised by Red Nose Day to help people living tough lives across the UK and internationally. Since its launch 40 years ago, Red Nose Day has become a British institution when people across the country get together to raise money at their home, school and work, accompanied by an exciting night of TV on the BBC, full of comedy and entertainment to inspire the nation to give generously.

Tina, Activities Co-ordinator at Elm Bank Care Home, said: “Taking part in Red Nose Day has been a huge amount of fun for our residents. It was great that Stone Lodge Therapeutic School and pupils joined our dementia community in decorating cakes and biscuit’s. The intergenerational activity provides great benefit to both the residents at the home as well as the pupils from the school. It was lovely also that we had a fun packed afternoon full of magic, we are very glad to be able to do our bit as a home to raise further awareness and money for the charity.”

Our varied life enrichment programme keeps residents active, and provides a daily choice of engaging physical, mental and spiritual activities tailored to residents’ interests and abilities.