Activities at Fordmill Care Home

Fordmill was crowned as the national winner in the Team of the Year category at the 2020 Barchester Care Awards, held virtually on 8th October.

The awards celebrate staff and volunteers who go the extra mile for the benefit of residents and patients living in Barchester care homes and independent hospitals. 

More than 2,800 nominations were received from homes, residents, staff and relatives across the UK this year, which is nearly 1000 more than was received last year. Nominations were sent in by Barchester staff, but many more were also from residents and their families who have praised the fantastic care provided to their loved ones.

All entries have been of a very high standard, and we are thrilled to have been declared as the national winner!

Residents of Fordmill took to the homes beautiful garden to take advantage of the late summer sunshine.  Resident, Ron even took his lunch outdoors to enjoy.

Everyone commented on how much better they felt for grabbing a breath of fresh air, feeling the sun on their faces and checking on the progress of the plants growing in the award winning garden.

A senior carer at Fordmill in Montrose has received a prestigious 25 Year Service Award in celebration of working at Barchester Healthcare for 25 years.

Caroline Mason, now Senior Carer, started at Barchester in September 1995 and has worked with residents and their relatives to ensure that their needs have been met over the years.

Aileen Alberts, General Manager of Fordmill said: “We’re delighted to be celebrating 25 years of loyal service with Caroline. She has demonstrated her dedication and loyalty to this home and its residents year after year. I speak for all of us here at Fordmill when I say that I’m looking forward to many more years of working with Caroline!”

A big congratulations to everyone at Fordmill, because we have been named as a Divisional Winner in the 2020 Barchester Care Awards in the Team of the Year category, in addition to being named as a winner in the Garden of the Year category. We will be attending a virtual awards ceremony on 8th October to find out whether we will be declared overall winner.

For some residents at Fordmill care home in Montrose, the long awaited reunion with family and friends became a reality recently, as garden visits have now been allowed to commence at the home.  There has been much careful planning and preparation for this moment behind the scenes at Barchester Healthcare, who run Fordmill care home. Social distancing was still in place, and homes that are able to take part must have a large accessible garden.

Aileen Alberts, General Manager at the home, said: “This has been a much welcomed development in what have been very strange times. The visits are safe and organised, and it was wonderful to see how happy it made the residents. We will of course endeavour to keep up the high standards of care, and continue with our ever evolving life enrichment programme, to keep residents engaged. But this was a lovely day.”

Ann Cooley resident at Fordmill said: “The staff here have been so wonderful and generous with their time, keeping us busy and entertained, especially showing us how to use video calls, but nothing beats seeing my family in real life. This was a special moment, and I was over the moon.”

Residents at Fordmill enjoyed a special lunch in celebration of Father’s Day.    This year, due to the current situation, family and friends joined in the celebrations virtually via video call. Residents weren’t phased by this however, as they have become quite tech savvy at Skype calls, FaceTime, and online events. These platforms are an invaluable way to keep people connected with loved ones and friends, as well as with the local communities, during these unprecedented times.