Activities at Fairview House Care Home

To mark World Photography Day, staff and residents were treated to a live streaming photography masterclass courtesy of top professional photographer, Damian Bailey.

A professional photographer since 2003, Damian has won Wedding Photographer of the Year and is listed as one of London’s top wedding photographers, having photographed over 700 weddings.  Damian travels all over the country shooting weddings, events and families and loves to help people create memories by capturing wonderful images that will be passed on from generation to generation.

Damian’s talk explained how he goes about capturing special moments and what makes a great photo in terms of technique and composition.  From landscapes to portrait photos, Damian shared his hints and tips for getting the best shots whatever the subject matter.

We enjoyed a wonderful virtual introduction to the world of robots with V&A Dundee Curator, Kirsty Hassard.

Kirsty talked us through the history of robots and their early beginnings, the presentation traced the fascination of all things wired and wonderful and considered what the future might hold for our relationship with a multitude of mechanical machines.

It was absolutely thrilling to learn what robots can do now and what they might be able to do in the future.

We had a lovely time exploring the amazing gardens of Blenheim Palace through a virtual talk, hosted by the Historian - Antonia Keaney.

We enjoyed a virtual look at how the gardens at Blenheim have developed over the past 300 years - from the formality of Henry Wise through to the ‘natural’ landscape created by Capability Brown and beyond.

Everyone was very impressed by the many jewels hidden within the 150 acres of beautiful gardens.

We were able to virtually dive into the impressive wildlife of Dartmoor Zoo.

We explored its grounds and learnt about the unique history of the park from the zoo’s educational team. The culmination of the tour was the live tiger training demonstration, which was wonderful to see and enjoyed by all.

Our residents were delighted to see amazing photos and short videos of the animals and take a peek inside their home.

Staff and residents at Barchester’s Fairview House Care Home in Danestone are over the moon because their brilliant head chef, John Grover, is the winner of the Scottish finals of the National Association of Care Catering’s Care Chef of the Year competition.  John, who won the competition outright in 2018, is now off to the national finals in London and on track to scoop the double – no chef has ever won the competition twice!

To get to the national finals, John competed against seven other regional finalists.  In just 90 minutes, John had to prepare three portions of a nutritionally-balanced two course meal which was judged against seven strict criteria.  Each dish must be balanced and have five nutrient groups present, John had been working hard on his menu selection to ensure is was not only tasty but also especially tailored to ensure maximum nutrition for his residents.

We took a wonderful virtual trip to Iceland’s Puffin Rescue Centre at the Beluga Whale Sanctuary.

We were able to virtually meet some of the rescued Atlantic Puffins and to learn interesting facts about their care and unique lives. We took a peek into their lives in the wild, the Puffling rescue program in the Westman Islands, and how SEA LIFE Trust Beluga Whale Sanctuary’s team takes care of these charismatic little birds each day.

It was a very exciting experience, enjoyed by all.