Activities at Henford House Care Home

Staff, residents and guests at Henford House celebrated the birth of some chicks recently.

There was a lot of egg-citement at the home as 8 chicks hatched throughout the week. Residents were able to pet and feed the chicks as they found their footing in their new home.

It was an eggs-cellent day when the eggs finally hatched! Residents at Henford, as well as our team, were all very excited about the new-borns. .

Residents at Henford House care home have been so grateful to receive such lovely gifts and donations over the last few months.

Residents and staff would like to thank each and everyone one of the members of the community.

Waitrose for the lovely flowers, Morrison’s Warminster for the hampers, food donations and books, Iles and Vincent for the chocolates, Stuart and Eileen Kellow for the scrub bags, Christine from Warminster Action Group for donations from Poundland, The Food Bank for toiletries and all the children at Avenue School for the beautiful handmade Easter cards.

Engaging with the community allows residents to carry on as normal, and keeps spirits high, as visitors are currently visiting the home at this time.

Natalie James, General Manager at Henford Care Home said: “In these unprecedented times, ensuring residents feel engaged and connected within our local community is more important than ever. We continue to provide a wide range of physical, mental and spiritual activities at Henford House, as part of the life enrichment programme for our residents, and we hope that these new friendships will continue beyond the current situation.”

Resident Mary said “It’s so lovely that we can receive letters and pictures from the local community. It’s truly heart-warming that people care so much. It’s made my day, reading the beautiful cards from the children and seeing the effort they put in to their drawings.”

Henford House celebrated VE Day with a celebration supper to commemorate 75 years since the end of the Second World War.

Staff and residents at Henford House, along with people all over the UK, joined together for the ‘Nation’s Toast to the Heroes of WW2’. In light of the current situation, rather than celebrating with street parties, at 3pm on May 8th, the country was encouraged to mark the day with a nationwide toast, paying tribute to the many millions at home and abroad that sacrificed so much to ensure we all enjoy and share the freedom we have today.

Residents also celebrated the occasion by having traditional bunting and a good ol' singalong, and tucked into a delicious selection of spam & jam sandwiches, followed by Victoria sponges and cream teas.

Many of our residents have very clear memories of the Second World War, and reminisced about their experiences, so it’s a privilege to remember and celebrate with them.

We had a lovely day, and we are making sure extra effort is focused on creating an enjoyable environment for all of our residents, whilst ensuring that the group activities are smaller, adhering to social distancing advice.

It is very important that we keep the memories alive of those who fought, and the staff have gone above and beyond to create a special celebration today.

It has been a busy time at Henford House lately. Many birthday celebrations have taken place and a wonderful surprise came for resident, Eric. On the morning of his birthday, his son, Tony, arrived and played 'Happy Birthday' to his father on his cornet; it was a very emotional moment for Eric seeing his son and daughter-in-law, Trish, outside his room.

Kathleen Legg celebrated her 100th birthday and her son, Derek, came to the garden and waved to his mother. Kath’s balcony was decorated with flags and she received her birthday card from the Queen, amongst many other cards from family and friends.

It is very hard for families unable to come in and celebrate birthdays with their loved one. All residents are kept up-to-date with emails, Skype and phone calls.

We also celebrated our Queen's birthday on National Tea Day, some of our ladies enjoyed traditional cakes with their tea!

For something a bit different, Tom, our Maintenance Manager, bought 2 of his pet snakes in for the residents to see, touch and hold. Some of our residents really enjoyed this experience, but some also said "No Way!"

Staff and residents at Henford House celebrated Easter with various craft activities including making Easter Bonnets and an Easter Tree.

Residents also tucked in to a delicious Easter meal of succulent roast lamb leg served with all the trimmings followed by a lemon curd hot cross bun bread and butter pudding.

Henford House also received a very special delivery from the children at Avenue Primary School, who made some lovely cards for the residents. Everyone was very overwhelmed by the effort and beautiful words that each card contained. We would all like to thank the children from the bottom of our hearts for thinking of everyone at Henford during this difficult time.

Residents at Henford have been busy making rainbows in support of our NHS staff at this difficult time. They have been displayed in our window for all to see. We even received a lovely email from a neighbour along with a picture of her 3 year old with her rainbow. They had seen the pictures during their walk and wanted to share their own rainbow with the residents.