Activities at Laurel Bank Care Home

What a lovely day to be out enjoying the sunshine! We have had a fantastic afternoon playing outdoor games and enjoying refreshing ice-lollies and cold drinks.  Everyone had a great time.

Staff, residents, relatives and the local community came together at Laurel Bank to enjoy a Summer Fete that was held in the home’s grounds on the 30th of July. Laurel Bank hosted a variety of activities throughout the day at their Mad Hatter’s themed party, including two tombola stalls, a fifteen piece ukulele band, Captain Caberet’s one man band, a raffle and games, which were enjoyed by everyone who came to the event.

Staff at Laurel Bank dressed to impress in Alice in Wonderland costumes, and made everyone feel welcome and were delighted to see different generations having fun together. Visitors enjoyed plenty of refreshments, such cakes that looked like sandwiches and sandwiches that looked like cakes, all prepared by the catering team, who were hard at work making sure that a great time was had by all – it really was a team effort!

Our homes had a fabulous time with the talented soprano Astrid Joos from Street Theatre.  Astrid spoke about a selection of famous operas and our residents were treated to performances of wonderful arias from operas well-known to all, such as ‘Giuditta’, ‘Don Giovanni’ and ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’.

It was a lovely experience, truly enjoyed by all.

Staff from Barchester Healthcare’s care homes up and down the country have taken on a gruelling 211 mile cycling challenge from Bradford to London to raise money for Barchester’s Charitable Foundation which supports older people and other adults living with a disability or mental health problems by helping them to connect or re-connect with others in their local communities.

Over four days, from July 5th- 8th, a team of care home workers cycled from Yorkshire to London, stopping at 15 care homes and one hospital across all four of Barchester’s divisions to meet well-wishers, have a well-earned break and refuel before continuing on their way.

Residents across our homes had a lovely time joining Dr Tim Howard, 4th generation GP, whose whole life has been about patient care, for an exciting virtual event to discuss his novel ‘Let’s Kill All The Lawyers’.

The novel is a medical fiction thriller that explores the impact of life and death events, mistakes and forgiveness, and the impact of law and justice on the day- to-day lives of ordinary people doing their best in difficult circumstances.

Residents had the chance to ask their own questions once the discussion was over and a great time was had by all.

Our residents across our homes had a lovely time joining Daniel Snowman, for an exciting virtual event to discuss his book ‘Just Passing Through’.

Author of over a dozen books, Daniel Snowman’s long and active life has led him to interact in countless ways with the wider world and with some of its most famous inhabitants. His memoir evokes these experiences via a series of vivid literary vignettes.

Our residents found the talk very intriguing and informative, and were happy to learn more about Daniel’s experiences around the world.  A great time was had by all.