Activities at Laurel Bank Care Home

Activities are a fundamental part of a rich and varied lifestyle here at Laurel Bank Care Home, which is why we organise both physically and mentally stimulating social events for those we support. The weekly itinerary is ever-changing, and regularly includes art lessons, chair-based exercise, trips and visits from a variety of different animals, as well as one-to-one time for residents who prefer the peace and quiet. Our team actively tries to incorporate the hobbies and interests that are meaningful to residents into the activities schedule as encouragement to continue with much-loved pastimes.

Enriching life
Watch our video on life enrichment in our homes.

Jaimy Lee Almond

Activities Coordinator

Hi, my name is Jaimy Lee, and I am the Activities Coordinator here at Laurel Bank.

I have worked in the care home industry for over nine years. I started working at Laurel Bank in 2018 as a carer, and then, I was promoted to senior carer which I thoroughly enjoyed. 

I moved over to activities in 2020, as I was asked to help out and help encourage residents to join in. During this, I realised how much fun it could be and chose to stay on and got promoted to Activities Coordinator.

I love my role as every day is different and I try to make sure the residents are happy and engage in meaningful activities, this also helps support the transition for new residents.

Life-encriching activities booklet

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 Laurel Bank Care Home

Baubles

We all had a wonderful time joining Jennifer Owen - founder of Goldfinch Floral Studio for a creative floral bauble workshop.

Jennifer transported our residents to the out of the ordinary world of flowers and crafts and demonstrated how to create stunning hand-made baubles filled with dried flowers and grasses.

Our residents enjoyed filling and decorating their own glass baubles and their unique creations will be displayed at the home for everyone to enjoy.

Blenheim Palace

Our residents were thrilled to join Antonia Keaney - Blenheim Palace’s Historian for an intriguing virtual talk on Winston Churchill.

The private resources of Blenheim Palace were drawn upon to afford very new and refreshing insights into this remarkable man. During the talk Antonia shared fascinating information about the breadth of talent, achievement and personality of the "Greatest Briton": soldier, politician, statesman, painter, writer, orator, family man - and bricklayer!

We all had a wonderful time and enjoyed learning more about UK’s former Prime Minister.

Century celebrations for resident

Celebrations have been in full swing at Laurel Bank Care Home as one of its residents, Frances Compston, reaches her centenary in style.

Frances was joined by staff, relatives, friends and other residents as she received a telegram from the Queen in recognition of landmark birthday. A party was held at the home and guests enjoyed an afternoon tea prepared by the home’s chef.

Frances was born and raised in Scotland and was stationed in Halifax, Yorkshire during World War 2 where she met her husband, a Lancastrian, and she joined him here in Lancaster where they married and raised three daughters. Frances came to Laurel Bank three years ago, where she is enjoying a new chapter of her life.

Blooming Haus

We were delighted to join Blooming Haus’s Christmas Wreath Making Masterclass, where Master Florist, Michal and his business partner - Michael showed us the best method to create beautiful festive wreaths.

Following the tips and ideas learnt during the amazing virtual experience, we were happy to put our skills to a test and to enter the #BarchesterChristmasWreaths competition.

We all had a wonderful time creating our festive wreath/s.

Thank you @bloominghaus for helping our residents flow into the true spirit of Noel.

Home celebrate long service

A Health Care Assistant at Laurel Bank in Lancaster has received a prestigious Long Service Award in celebration of working at Barchester Healthcare for 15 years.

Kelly started at Barchester in 2006 and has worked with residents and their relatives to ensure that their needs have been met over the years. Jane McFarlane, Employee Services Director at Barchester said: “I’m always pleased to hear stories about the long service of Barchester staff and am delighted Kelly has achieved this milestone. It is dedication like this that ensures our residents are provided with a happy place to live.”

Lyndsay, General Manager of Laurel Bank said: “We’re delighted to be celebrating 15 years of loyal service with Kelly. She has demonstrated her dedication and loyalty to this home and its residents year after year. I speak for all of us here at Laurel Bank when I say that I’m looking forward to many more years of working with Kelly!”

English National Ballet

We celebrated Remembrance Day with English National Ballet Associate Dance Artist, Richard Bermange, who led a creative dance workshop for our residents followed by a special extract of Akram Khan’s work Dust, premiered in 2014 as part of ENB’s Lest We Forget programme, commemorating the First World War.

ENB company dancers, Erina Takahashi and James Streeter performed the extract and provided some insight into this moving work.

Our residents had a wonderful time as they listened, danced and were able to singalong to famous war time music performed by ENB Associate Musician, Matt Hartley-Stevens.

Upcoming events

Coffee Morning - Every Tuesday

We extend a warm invitation for you to join us and make new friends - all welcome.