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
A touch of Magic at Harton Grange
Harton Grange Care Home in South Shields has recently brought a bit of magic to residents by providing a new ‘Magic Table 360 and the Happiness Programme’ as a way to improve residents’ quality of life.
Designed and manufactured in the UK, the Magic Table 360 uses interactive games to connect residents with staff and with each other, and research shows it improves the wellbeing of people living with dementia. Using interactive light projections, the Magic Table 360, which can be played independently or in a group, stimulates movement by inviting participants to take part in all sorts of different fun activities such as popping bubbles, playing the piano, colouring in pictures, sweeping leaves or interacting playfully with fish. Games are rich in colour, movement and detail, and allow people of all ages to play in a safe and comfortable environment.
The Magic Table 360 is portable so it can be used wherever residents feel most comfortable, it can be projected onto the floor, ceiling, walls, a whiteboard or even the bed. The Happiness Programme allows for a range of games that change seasonally and have country-specific versions covering 14 different categories, so there will always be something new for residents to try.
Library community donates to home
At Harton Grange we like to utilize all we can from our community and have a very close friendship with the library community team who work with many people who live alone and need support, they also do group get-togethers like coffee mornings.
They have been supporting Harton Grange for many years and they have donated activity books, quizzes, reminiscence pictures and very recently they have donated large jigsaw puzzles and also spring bulbs which came fully equipped with pots and soil, the residents have planted the bulbs ready for spring. We cannot thank them enough and we are so grateful for all the help we receive from our community.
Residents enjoy 'living kitchen'
At Harton Grange we have some amazing spaces to work in, we have our own living kitchen. We have been donated lots of memorabilia which work wonderful for reminiscence and role play sessions, one of our residents “Freda” enjoyed posing for pictures, she pretended to chat to her family on our vintage brass candle stick phone whilst drinking tea from the lovely posh tea sets and the back drop of long johns and pinnys hanging from the Victorian clothes creel.
Community comes together again!
Today we took a large delivery from Sainsbury’s Local in our region. Jody from Sainsbury’s kindly used her “Community budget” on Harton grange. Jody rang Harton Grange and asked what we would like as a donation and we mentioned, toiletries. These come in very handy if a resident does not see their loved one and we have supplies in the home to give out. Jody also supplied numerous chocolate bars to give to our residents.
Jody, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you!
Keeping residents connected
At Harton grange, we added a new addition to our home, in the form of a visitor’s suite. This is perfect for resident’s families visiting their loved ones.
The suite is in the form of a square with a glass partition in the middle. The family go inside via one door and the resident in through another day. This means there is no physical contact with each other. Inside the suite, we have table and chairs to make this a homely feel along with electric radiators to keep everyone warm. There is a built in Microphone / intercom system so the family can hear their loved ones.
The visits have been very successful and we have had lots of good feedback!
Home receive vaccinations
Staff and residents at Barchester’s Harton Grange were delighted to be invited to have the vaccination, which has lifted everyone’s spirits after what has been a very challenging year for everyone.
General Manager, Lesley Gregg said: “Last year was a year like no other and the vaccine feels like the light at the end of the tunnel. Our teams have been magnificent in how they have risen to every challenge during this pandemic and we are proud to play our part in this next phase to ensure the most vulnerable are protected.”
