Activities at Fountains Care Home
We understand that the people we support have passions and interests that could be difficult to pursue after moving into a care home – but that doesn’t mean we don’t encourage them to try! Some hobbies can define a person, so our Activities Coordinators are dedicated to ensuring that everyone we support is able to do what makes them happy to the best of their abilities. Social events are organised with individual tastes in mind and with the idea that residents have the opportunity to try new and exciting things.
Louise Crooks
Hello I am Louise, my first role with Barchester was caring for our residents. Previously I worked in an early years environment for 17 years where I organised activities and events. I am thrilled to now be Activities Lead and being able to continue enriching the life’s of our lovely residents here at Fountains.
Read our brochure 'Life-enriching activities' for more information about life in our care homes.
Read our brochure
Activities and Events Partnerships
As part of our bespoke life-enrichment programmes, we host a number of live virtual events in the home on a regular basis through a number of partnerships with places of interest and world class performance companies
Life at Fountains Care Home
RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch
The Birdwatch adventure began at Fountains……….
Residents enjoyed spending time in the garden watching out for birds and making bird feeders for our feathered visitors.
The bird feeders were made using lard, seeds and fruit and it was a lot of fun putting them out and observing the birds enjoying the feeders.
There were bird themed crafts and the work produced was really lovely.
Everyone enjoyed watching the Big Garden Birdwatch virtually and using their tally charts to tick off the different species seen.
The Big Garden Birdwatch was finished off with an episode of spring watch and a nice cup of tea enjoyed from a warm armchair.
International Flower Day
For International Flower Day residents at Fountains took part in a “zoom” flower arranging class.
It was a really lovely activity that was made so, by our wonderful community friend and florist Sue.
Sue delivers flowers to our residents courtesy of Marks and Spencer’s most weeks, so we thought we would mark International Flower Day by doing something a little different with the generous delivery.
Our residents spent the morning gathering a good mixture of foliage from the grounds to go in their displays and when the flowers were delivered, the hard stemmed flowers were chosen for the class and the bouquets were deconstructed.
Sue talked and guided our residents through the process, whilst demonstrating by making her own stunning arrangement. Everyone really enjoyed choosing their flowers, colour scheme and foliage for their displays. The fragrance in the room also brought a lot of joy with one resident saying how relaxing and therapeutic the session was!
The displays produced were really impressive and our residents proudly displayed them to be enjoyed in their rooms.
Big thanks to Sue for her expert tuition and for always remembering Fountains in her deliveries.
Veganuary - Part 3
Residents decided to pair National Chocolate Cake Day with the finale of veganuary and have a taste off competition.
Residents were split into vegan v non vegan and produced a chocolate fudge cake with their plant and non-plant ingredients.
It got very messy but was a lot of fun, even managing to incorporate a bit of dancing whilst the cakes baked!
The cakes were then decorated with chocolate cream frosting and everyone enjoyed layering the gooey frosting onto their finished sponges.
The end results were identical so easily switched up for the moment of truth……..the tasting.
Both cakes were given the thumbs up, however, the vegan option was described as “light yet indulgent” and came out the overall winner.
An interesting and fun experience for everyone involved.
Veganuary – Part 2
Residents enjoyed baking another vegan option as part of Veganuary.
This time they made lemon drizzle cupcakes – vegan style.
They enjoyed baking with alternative vegan ingredients and decorating them with vegan icing.
The best part was the tasting experience and everyone agreed they were just as delicious and they are looking forward to trying a savoury dish next time.
Supporting our community
Fountains have been working closely with AgeUk Solihull since the 1st lockdown to support isolated AgeUk clients.
Our wonderful hospitality team have been making beautiful birthday cakes that befriending volunteers have been delivering to celebrate “big” birthdays for those isolated in the community.
At Christmas we also sent out festive boxes with homemade mince pies and shortbread.
Our cakes and festive boxes have been really well received and we are super proud to be part of ensuring our elderly neighbours know they are in our thoughts and remembered, at this difficult time.
We wanted to share a medley of photos of just some of the cakes and festive boxes being received.
MLK Day
Staff and residents celebrated the life and achievements of civil rights leader, Martin Luther King on, what would have been, his birthday.
Our residents had an interesting day finding out about the life and works of Martin Luther King, an important man who changed history and deserves to be remembered. Residents recalled their own memories of this time and enjoyed a talk about his life.
They watched videos of some of his famous speeches and talked about the legacy he left as well as reading some of his famous quotes and creating their own quotes to sum up their own beliefs.
The rest of the afternoon was spent watching Selma, a film about the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches
Upcoming events
Reminiscence Cafe
Please join us for our monthly Reminiscence Cafe where we will pick a topic and talk about our memories, whilst making new friends and enjoying some refreshments.
July
Hello July! - we have another month filled with activities for our Residents and community to enjoy. Please come along.
Don't Dine Alone
We know meal times can be a lonely time for some people, that's why we're inviting local older people to join us for lunch every Friday from 12.30pm.
Room for Hire
Looking for somewhere to hold your meeting or event? We have a meeting room that is available for free to members of the local community and professionals.
