Laurel BankBarchester Healthcare

Activites 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.

Read our brochure ‘Life-enriching activities’ for more information about life in our care homes.

Read our brochure

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.

Celebrating life at Laurel Bank Care Home

Tour de Barchester

It is a challenging 4-day cycle ride covering 225 miles, starting in Dumfries and finishing in Cheshire, riding through Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester, visiting 17 Barchester care homes on the way.

The Tour de Barchester is raising money exclusively for Barchester's Charitable Foundation. Their starting point on the second day was Laurel Bank, and we put on one heck of a party for them to show our support before continuing our cycle for 2 days!

Staff dressed up in all things disco, and we had Gospel music from Adi and a very healthy table of smoothie’s snacks prepared by head Chef Grant and the residents enjoyed breakfast in the sunshine!

The Great North Swim for St Johns Hospice

Manager Lyndsay Scott and Gardener Gilly took on the Great North swim to raise money for St John's Hospice.

Lyndsay and Gilly have now completed the Great North swim and received their medals! A massive congratulations to you both for such a fantastic achievement! You had us all on the edge of our seats. You have done so well proud and St John's Hospice.

The King visits Lancaster

King Charles visited Lancaster this month for a special ceremony at Lancaster Castle. We took residents to Lancaster castle to see if we could see the king, and we were treated like royalty ourselves.

When we got there, the police helped us get front row seats right outside the Castle where we waited for the King to arrive. He was keen to meet residents from Laurel Bank, especially Joan, who had an MBE from over 25 years ago. An absolutely amazing day and lots of memories made.

VE Day celebrations!

We celebrated VE day in style.

What a fantastic day celebrating the 80th anniversary of VE Day! Singer Ashleigh Woods was fabulous and everyone enjoyed an afternoon tea washed down with a glass of Pimm's! The perfect afternoon of singing, eating and dancing.

VE Day live talk

Our residents had a wonderful time participating in an interactive virtual talk with Pippa Catterall, Professor of History and Policy at the University of Westminster, during which we delved into both the light and dark moments of VE Day ahead of its 80th anniversary.

Our residents truly enjoyed the virtual journey through history, back to that momentous day.

Nurses Day

We have been celebrating our wonderful nurses at Laurel bank. Each of them received a goodie bag and their own personal water bottles and were treated with lots of cakes.

Happy International Nurses Day to our wonderful nursing team! Thank you for all that you do at Laurel Bank. You guys are amazing!

Raising money for Barchester's Charitable Foundation

We have been supporting Melissa and Claire for their bake-off this month by raising money for the Barchester's Charitable Foundation today at the reception with the biggest bake sale we have ever had!

We managed to raise £204 for the charity and the staff did amazing!

Joan's 103rd Birthday

What a day for Joan and her 103rd birthday! 220 cards are still being opened! Party bags and personalised t-shirts were given to the ladies to give it that party feel.

We were picked up by limo from Laurel bank, kindly paid for and organised by Aleah and her partner. You guys are incredible! The Hard Landscape Specialists.

We were taken to the Midland Hotel we're Joan and friends had the most delicious afternoon tea! We were picked up by limo from Preston Ireland Bowker’s and taken to Laurel bank where she was greeted by the Deputy Mayor of Lancaster, Butler in the Buff Dave, camera crew and Graham Liver! Dougie Resident, who our events announcer for Laurel bank, gave the most incredible speech!

She has had the birthday of a lifetime and very special memories for Joan and her friends! An absolutely amazing day!

Hatching Chicks

We had Bowland farm come and visit us and show us a demonstration on how to hatch our own chicks. Bowland farm provided us with all the equipment and made this happen for the residents at Laurel Bank.

They have been so popular with residents, staff and even children. It was a fantastic experience that we would all try again.