Activities at Kernow House Care Home

Residents and staff decided to raise money for Launceston Foodbank during their fundraising event this December. They raised £136.17 during a 50 pence sale, coffee morning and a raffle.

Many residents watch the news on television and read the newspapers and they are very aware of how difficult it can be for some families to manage financially with the rising costs. Christmas is a time for celebration in every way, and residents suggested, that the fundraising should go to help local people have a good Christmas.

Launceston Foodbank gave us a Christmas List with items specifically to make Christmas a little festive and the home took the list with them, when they went shopping. A large amount of Christmas food and a few little extras were purchased and presented to Yvonne King, Foodbank Project Manager.

Residents, Debbie and Richard, helped with the shopping and choosing the items and said: ’It feels good to be able to give back and do something for others.’

There was huge excitement at Kernow House as Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer’s grandson Rudy and his friend Ted, short for The Enchanted Deer, paid a visit with their owners Dannii and Mark from Enchantment Cornwall. The visit was organised by Care Now, which is an organisation working at getting volunteers back in the community and this year, Kernow House was lucky.  Rudy and Ted make one goodwill visit to a care home every year and this time they came to us. Staff and residents at Barchester’s Kernow House care home, in Launceston had a wonderful time learning about the very friendly reindeers from the reindeer wranglers, finding out about their habits and what they like to eat.  Several of the residents got to feed the reindeers some of their favourite treats.  Reindeers are natural foragers and would normally eat moss, ferns, grasses and leaves so half an apple is a rare treat for reindeer in the wild.

Barchester Healthcare, who run Kernow House started out in 1992 with just one care home and now it is the second largest care home company in the UK with 250 care homes and private hospitals all over the country. To celebrate, Kernow House, which is also 30 years old, organised a tea party with a visit from Jumping Out Jazz Duo for a fantastic afternoon of singing and dancing and everyone was invited! The tea party was attended by Barchy Bear and some of the many Trauma Teds, Launceston Lions have donated to us. This was a suggestion made by residents and it gave us the perfect excuse to enjoy lots of treats. We had homemade sausage rolls, Bakewell tart and delicious scones. There were even tiny treats for the teddies.

Kernow House took part in Remembrance Sunday. We made poppy wreathes with kits provided by Creative Mojo. On Friday 11.11. we observed two minutes silence at 11am. On Remembrance Sunday, most residents watched the ceremony from the cenotaph on television while two residents took part in the parade in Launceston town centre. Lesley wanted to take part because, having lived in Launceston for many years, she wanted to be part of the ceremony in our community again. Peter has taken part in the Remembrance Parade in a professional capacity during his working life and he also wanted to lay a wreath in memory of a family member, who died while being a prisoner of war in Japan. It is great to be able to take part in community events.

We are so pleased to have re-established weekly visits from children at St Catherine’s School. The intergenerational links we started years ago which were interrupted by Covid and lockdown, are now firmly back on track. Year five have just made their third visit and friendships have already been formed. George remembered chatting to Peter during the last visit, but this time, Peter was having a rest in his room. However, Peter wanted to see George, so he and his mother Kate paid a little visit, had a chat and a biscuit and George promised to come back next time. These visits are fantastic for all of us, and we all look forward to them.

We really enjoy music and singing at Kernow House. When we got an opportunity to take part in another Live Virtual Event, Come Sing! To Feel Good with Choral Hub, we were keen to take part. We joined Dan from Choral Hub for a virtual singing session like no other! We were singing ‘I’m a Believer’ by The Monkees and was joined by lots of other Barchester homes during this on line event. No experience was necessary – this fun, easy, and feel-good session was for everyone and left us smiling ear to ear. We sang, danced and made gestures to go along with the lyrics.