Activities at Friston House Care Home

What a beautiful day we spent yesterday joined by our loved ones. We couldn’t have had more perfect weather for our Summer BBQ.

The team at Friston House are so happy that you were all able to join with us for our family day and can’t wait to see you again soon.

Through ticket purchases for our raffle to raise funds for Alzheimer's & Dementia Support Services we were able to donate over £240 to their incredible organisation.

Special mention, of course, to Rob T who entertained us in the garden as we sang along and filled our plates with some really delicious burgers,hot dogs and salads. (Our catering team delivering a full menu for the home AND the BBQ food we all enjoyed…..Superstars!).

Three of our lovely residents Sylvia, Shirley & June worked together throughout the Spring on this devilishly difficult puzzle.

The team were all ready to celebrate the ladies team spirit and show admiration of their persistence to completing a puzzle that we would have given up on well before the end.

When that morning arrived, however, you can imagine the reaction of the team here at Friston House when we discovered there…. WAS A PIECE MISSING!!!

How might you have reacted???

We all agreed it probably would have been raining pieces of jigsaw in the lounge at such a discovery, as the table was flipped over in a fit of rage filled frustration……BUT

That’s not what happened in the lounge that morning…..In fact quite the opposite….the 3 friends each looked at each other, shrugged, smiled and it was Sylvia who stated…”well, these things happen”.

THAT was the moment we all realised what had REALLY taken place that month.

It was never about the jigsaw, the challenge or the floral image.

It was about the time spent together, friendships formed, laughter and shared silences enjoyed whilst pondering the placement of the next piece.

It was a brilliant display of patience and team spirit that was inspirational to witness….and the team here benefited from it hugely

PHILLUMENY - The hobby of collecting Matchboxes and Matchbooks

Our residents were discussing their passions and a couple of ladies in our group claimed to be Phillumenists (yes, we thought they were making it up too!)

But…..after a bit of googling we discovered that it’s a real thing and a vast and intriguing look into historic graphic design.

With beautiful designs from all over the world, many with truly fascinating back stories….you can see how easy it would be to get hooked on collecting these wonderful little packages.

So we got straight to work designing our own (of course we did, we are Friston House!) and making use of our colour therapy pages from our recent Mental Health Awareness Week, thought about how we could ‘shrink’ down our designs so they could be matchboxes.

Residents love a live theatre visit whether it be musical theatre or panto it always brings an afternoon of grins.

Our residents visited Tyland Barn Nature Park & Gardens in Sandling to see the variety of British flowers, plants and foliage, it is also a wildlife haven and in recent years they have bred kestrels.

Residents have been taking part in flower-based activities throughout the month including drawing and painting flowers in the garden, reminiscing about their gardens, virtual visits to famous gardens on YouTube, and a flower quiz which everyone really enjoyed.  Their collective knowledge about flowers gained from years of gardening experience was very impressive.

Our residents had a lovely time recently getting stuck into some arts and crafts recently when we painted our own coasters.

Residents made some for both themselves and their families which they were really excited to give them, A lovely afternoon enjoyed by all.

Residents from Friston House recently enjoyed a lovely trip out to the Rochester Cathedral. We had a lovely time looking around and enjoyed coffee in the Crypt. Residents enjoyed learning about the history of the cathedral, and we were shocked to find it is the 2nd oldest in England.

Residents at Friston House Care Home in Rochester were delighted when they had 15 motorbikes pull up outside the care home on Saturday.

The residents got the opportunity to look around at 15 bikes from the Triumph Owners Motor Cycle Club, residents were fascinated when they got to learn about the history and stories behind the motorbikes.

We had a lovely time recently making our own rice crispy cakes! Our residents loved doing something a bit different, especially when they knew they could eat them at the end! We are hoping to introduce more food related activities into our weekly schedule.