Activities at Emily Jackson House Care Home

All of us here at Emily Jackson House have been enjoying this fabulous weather. Last week we took a trip out to The Lookout Café at Biggin Hill airport. Resident Andrew was particularly thrilled as he used to fly aeroplanes, and he was so pleased to revisit a favourite place.

We enjoyed our drinks in the sunshine whilst watching the world (and aeroplanes) go by.

It was the perfect afternoon to celebrate a special lady’s birthday.

Resident Margaret celebrates being 90. She was joined by her friends to enjoy a birthday afternoon tea in our lovely gardens.

Margaret was thrilled to see her friends and enjoyed celebrating in the sunshine.
Margaret said, "I’ve had such a lovely time. The cake was delicious!" 

We had a fantastic day watching the rugby at Sevenoaks Rugby Club and celebrated Doug's 95th birthday.
The residents that joined us for the game are both keen rugby fans, having both played in their youth. Douglas when he was at school and Gerry played professionally for Gloucester.

Sevenoaks Rugby Club reserved special seats for our group where we were joined by family members. We were lucky with the weather and, even better, the Mighty Oaks won!!

Thank you to Sevenoaks Rugby Club for your hospitality and kindness.

What a fabulous morning with Monkey Music Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks. We were joined by toddlers and their parents/grandparents for a morning of fun and music. 

The activity got us all moving, singing and sharing the moment filled us with joy. The wonderful singing session created a symphony of connection between generations. This kind of intergenerational activity benefits everyone.

We all had such a great time and can't wait to welcome you back again.

We had a surprise delivery of flowers gifted to us by The Flower Studio Sevenoaks this week.

Jodie from the Flower studio very kindly donated some flowers for us to use, and we immediately set our lovely residents to work.

The residents had fun making new table decorations and filling an assortment with vases. The smell of fresh flowers filling our communal spaces. Thank you, Jodie. 

This morning was Holy Communion with St Luke's Church. We were joined by the Reverend Anne Bourne, who led us in prayer and songs.

Lunch was followed by a talk by Alison West, our physiotherapist who has been visiting Emily Jackson House residents for 25 years. Alison's talk was interesting and informative. She talked about having the right equipment and how to use it correctly. 

Alison also demonstrated some exercises we could all benefit from doing to keep our limbs moving. Then we had a surprise from the children of Sevenoaks Primary School. The children delighted the residents with their lovely singing. We all agreed that we had a great day!

Thank you very much to Emily and Alex Griffiths from Sevenoaks Rugby Club for visiting us recently to chat with us about the club and Rugby.

Several of the residents shared their memories of playing rugby in their youth or had family members that played. They enjoyed sharing their stories and reminiscing about the glory days.

Emily spoke to us about the history of the club and explained that this year it was 100 years old!! Alex spoke about what it was like to play Sevenoaks and all things rugby with the former players of the game.

We look forward to coming to watch a game next month and hope that we might be able to join in with the centenary celebrations. 

The best things in life are free.

Here at Emily Jackson House we have been getting outside and making the most of the sunshine when we can.  There are several benefits to being outside. It improves our mood, and can reduce feelings of stress or anger.

The fresh air and a dose of vitamin D does us all some good. And of course, the good company of others.

We recently had a visit from Woody, the cocker Spaniel. Woody is a gentle dog and loves meeting new people.

A dog's ability to tap into our emotions through their extraordinary sense of smell is why dogs make such good therapy pets. Research has shown that simply petting a dog lowers stress.

Woody visited lots of residents in our communal areas and, importantly, residents were unable to leave their rooms. Woody was made a fuss of by everyone, with a few treats along the way.