Activities at Kirkburn Court Care Home

This month we have been touring the home with the ‘Kirkburn Claik’ Newsagent Trolley. We have visited all the residents with a complimentary array of reading materials with something for everyone including fishing, cars, football, crafts, gardening and lots more. We also had a lovely selection of sweeties which went down a treat! We even had some extra help along the way in the form of some residents lending a hand pushing the trolley! Claire Burden, Activities Coordinator, said “It has been great seeing everyone get involved and all the residents were delighted with their new goodies.”

Some of our lovely ladies have been spending time creating decorations for our dining room tables. They selected a range of fresh flowers and arranged some in jars and other as small posies. Everyone agreed that they really brightened up the tables. It was a great effort by the ladies. One resident, Sally, said “they look beautiful.”

Staff and residents at Barchester’s Kirkburn Court were treated to a photographic tour and talk about the era of ocean travel by V&A Dundee Curator, Charlotte Hale.  The presentation forms part of a series of six talks and virtual tours that V&A Dundee is hosting for Barchester Healthcare’s care homes and private hospitals across the UK.

V&A Dundee is Scotland’s design museum, it showcases Scotland’s outstanding design achievements and features world-class exhibitions alongside the permanent Scottish Design Galleries, and a changing programme of commissions, events and activities.  

Staff and residents at Barchester’s Kirkburn Court were treated to an armchair work out courtesy of the Green Goddess, Diana Moran, and Shackleton’s furniture company, followed by a mindfulness session led by Shackleton’s Emma Raybould.

Diana rose to fame as a glamorous fitness guru on BBC’s Breakfast Time in the 1980’s and has made an outstanding contribution to improving the health and wellbeing of people in the UK. She now brings that experience to Shackletons as their Health and Wellness Adviser.

During April, we have also celebrated National Tea Day. As a beverage we consume a lot of here at Kirkburn, we felt it was important to celebrate this day! We began by having a tea tasting session and working our way through a few different varieties of tea – with residents displaying a thumbs up or thumbs down to give us their verdict – although, often it was the facial expressions that gave it away! We also had a few games of tea bag toss and tea bingo to continue our tea themed activities. We of course, rounded things off with a good cup of Tetley and a piece of cake! One resident, Margaret, said “this is the best day I’ve had!”

In honour of this year’s Grand National, we held our own ‘Kirkburn National’ this month. Our finest hats and jewels were adorned, before taking part in our own DIY horse races. We had several winners throughout the day but it was King Sandy who won the coveted ‘Kirkburn Cup’ with the most victories – “I must be afa lucky” he exclaimed. There was even some fierce competition between staff members too!