Activities at Elm Bank Care Home

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.

The residents and staff were delighted in welcoming local school children from St Peter’s School, Kettering, to their home for a magical afternoon of spring songs. It was an afternoon that allowed the residents to immerse themselves in the joy of spring and all that it has to offer.

Residents were very excited to have beautiful young voices echoing throughout the home spreading spring joy to all. The residents enjoyed an afternoon of singing along with songs that they knew and reminisce about when they were young and at school. It was a beautiful afternoon that was perfect to start celebrating the changing of the season. The pupils also delighted the residents with their new instrument, the ‘pBuzz’, for many of the residents it was the first time that they had seen the instrument and heard it being played.

Resident Hilda said, "It was lovely, to see all the children and to hear them sing so wonderfully, they all looked so smart and listening to them was lovely, I can say for all that it was certainly enjoyed."

Marvellous Bindura, General Manager said, “It is always lovely to invite the local school children in at this time of year, and to hear them sing their songs to us all is simply beautiful. It means so much to the residents and all the staff, it allows for the young and the old to mix and the wonderful experiences are shared.  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, it enriches the lives of all in many ways.”

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 fantastic time celebrating British Pie Week, surely one of the best weeks of the year!

Residents were joined by staff and pupils from Stone Lodge Therapeutic School for a morning of creating delicious sweet pies. British Pie Week is observed during the first week of March. It is a seven day period that allows all pie enthusiast to get together and create some delicious sweet and savoury pies. The residents were fully immersed in the morning, sharing recipes and stories of when they were younger and had families of their own. For all it was a morning of creating delicious sweet filled pies - this week has certainly been a veritable pie-filled feast!

Activities Co-ordinator Tina, said: “It was lovely to have the pupils and staff from Stone Lodge Therapeutic School join our residents for the morning. The intergenerational mix brings so much to all, the residents were so pleased to be able to share their stories of when they were young and the pies they made for their families”.

Marvellous Bindura, General Manager said, “It is lovely to see our residents enjoying activities that enrich their lives. It is so important here for us as a home to maintain our links with local schools, to see the engagement of on the faces of the residents was heart-warming”.

Bookshelves are bulging in the home where book worm residents were keen to get involved in World Book Day.

Staff and residents had a fun packed day, hosting a discussion about the residents’ favourite books, as well a quiz on famous books. Residents were delighted to have children from St Thomas More Catholic Primary School come and join them in reading their favourite books. The children were dressed in their pyjamas, the theme being bedtime stories which put smiles on everyone’s faces.

Tina the Activities Co-ordinator at the home commented: “Many of residents our residents love to read and to discuss their favourite books, so World Book Day is a fantastic opportunity for us all to spend the day with our noses in our favourite books.  We also had a great time testing our knowledge on famous books. All the residents were delighted to see the children in their wonderful costumes reading their favourite stories.

Marvellous Bindura, General Manager at the home, said: “It has been a brilliant day and we have all enjoyed swapping our must-reads.  Our residents loved seeing the children in their pyjamas, and having the children read to them was simply amazing.”

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 staff and residents were flipping pancakes all afternoon in preparation for their annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Day celebrations.

The home marked this year’s Pancake Day with pancake flipping and of course, enjoying delicious pancakes!, head chef at the home, flipped more than 100 pancakes, serving them up with sweet and savoury fillings for all the eager residents and staff.

Head Chef said: “My secret to the best pancakes is all in the whipping. Give it some elbow grease when mixing the batter and you’ll get perfect pancakes every time. I enjoy experimenting with the fillings – the residents’ favourites are the good old fashioned lemon and sugar!”

Tina, Activities Co-ordinator at Elm Bank care home, commented: “We absolutely love Pancake Day, it takes the residents back to their childhood when they used to have pancakes and they would wait in turn for ages hoping the batter would stretch to another.  We’ve had so much fun reminiscing and sharing favourite recipes for fillings with all the residents and the pancake flipping was tremendous fun for all.”