Activities at Harton Grange 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.
Marius Sidoriuc
Hi, my name is Marius, I am the activities coordinator here at Harton Grange. I joined Barchester's family in 2021, as I found their approach and standards on dementia very interesting. Since early 2022 I work for Barchester as both activities coordinator and care assistant. In 2018, I started my journey in health and social care as a care assistant and very soon after, I completed courses on dementia and activities (NAPA, level 2) and I worked as both activities coordinator and care assistant in Kent. I'm also an apprentice in health and social care. I've met some amazing people that have guided my understanding of dementia.
The most important thing for me is to see our residents achieving a meaningful raison d'etre, living as they like and to benefit from a range of activities starting from Namaste to reminiscing and spiritual needs (such as praying or listening to hymns), art and craft, armchair exercises, music therapy or finger nail pamper sessions.
I like to acknowledge that I am working as a part of a whole team, including the fantastic management, hospitality and maintenance departments, promoting a person centred approach for each resident and we are glad to know each persons preferences and abilities in order to plan how the day will look with them. One way we are able to do this is through our residents' and family' meetings where we try to let everyone have their say about the way they want to live and the activities they take part in.
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 Harton Grange Care Home
Century Celebrations
Celebrations have been in full swing at Harton Grange, as Irene reaches her centenary in style. We sang happy birthday to Irene early morning of 6th May and she was so happy and grateful.
Irene was surrounded by her loving family and friends who celebrated her amazing life. She was so happy and grateful that she hugged and kissed everyone, especially her daughters Denise and Anne.
Irene has a wonderful soul and a fantastic sense of humour. She always makes people laugh, even on bad days. She is much loved and respected by everyone who knows her. Our chef made a special cake for her, which she enjoyed very much. The pictures show how joyful and beautiful the day was. We are so lucky to have Irene in our Harton Grange family. Happy birthday, Irene!
A Visit to Butterfly World and Preston Park
We didn't dance around the maypole and we didn't find any maypole dancers. Instead, we thoroughly enjoyed visiting Butterfly World, Preston Park and the riverside of river Tees.
David has enjoyed seeing so many butterflies, but despite of their density, he had no luck catching one - he tried so many times. Anne was thrilled to see the butterflies flying around, the fish and the small mongooses, called meerkat. As one of these mongooses was having siesta, Anne said she would like to do the same.
At a point Susan, Peggy's daughter, asked her mother why is she crying, and Peggy said: "Because I'm happy".
Spending time in a hot microclimate, we have sweated a lot. Margaret and her daughter Don enjoyed seeing so many vivid colors moving around like in an eerie tropical forest.
Coronation talk
Across our services Residents had a wonderful time participating in an interactive virtual talk with Pippa Catterall, Professor of History and Policy at the University of Westminster, where we delved into the rich history of coronations.
During the talk, we explored fascinating topics such as the coronation chair, the crown, and other significant aspects related to King Charles' upcoming coronation. Our residents were thrilled to have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the memoirs of past coronations from 1937 and 1953, as well as learning about the coronation oath and what to expect from the ceremony, including the music, guests, and pageantry.
Memory Boxes
The memory boxes in our home are very appreciated by our residents. Irene enjoys her memory box and is very proud of this as she called it the “treasure box”.
A Visit from Mr. Bunny
Mr. Bunny came in this year with plenty of chocolate figures donated by Judith, Thomasina’s niece. He received a very warm welcome from our residents as he visited all of them and wishes to them a Happy and Peaceful Easter. Linda, Jane's daughter, was very happy to see Mr. Bunny visiting her mother. I was happy too.
To have an Easter Display was a brilliant idea very appreciated by our residents and visitors. We enjoyed to take pictures with Mr. Bunny and Mrs. Duck having in background the Easter display. Judith, our manager, said: "It was a great experience for our residents. They loved to see the Easter display and to have pictures with Mr Bunny. We had an Easter Egg Hunt as well. I enjoyed very much to see everybody happy as we had a lot of fun. I want to wish to all of you Happy Easter."
Beverly, our deputy manager, enjoyed as well and had fun with our residents and found some eggs.
Back to School
We had a fantastic time at Park View School where our friends celebrated their end of the term. We received a friendly and very warm welcome from all the teachers and children we met there. Moira was herself a teacher and she enjoyed very much to go back in time in.... the classroom and to look through the pupils' notebooks.
Diane remembered her time in school: she didn't like to go to school, but said she loves the way Laura is teaching the children, therefore was happy to be back in the classroom. Anne didn't resist and insisted to play ping-pong and made a lot of new friends. We were very happy to see how our friends from Park View School are keeping a Memory Book where we have a special place as we have activities with our friends every Monday. By the end of our visit we played bingo; we didn't win, but we thoroughly enjoyed the visit.
