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.
Jaimy Lee Almond
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.
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
Shove Tuesday
Laurel Bank and Lancaster Steiner School have recently made a connection, with the children coming in on Shrove Tuesday to make pancakes with our residents. Now due to the recent lockdown, future visits have been put on hold, but it hasn’t stopped the children putting a big smile on our residents faces! They have sent in lots of lovely pictures, some even including short stories and they were much appreciated in our home. A big thanks to Lancaster Steiner School!
Cheese & Wine Evening
Residents put the stresses of the outside world to one side for an evening of cheese and wine with the manager, Lyndsay Scott. This gave everybody the opportunity to voice any concerns they have, and for staff to reassure everybody that we’ll get through this situation together, as one big family. Cheers to that!
We are now rated 'Good'!
We passed a recent Care Quality Commission inspection with an overall 'Good' rating after being praised for a responsive, safe, effective, caring and well-led service.
The CQC inspected the home on the 7th and 13th February (the report was released on 6th March) and rated the home as 'Good' overall. The report stated that, 'People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.'
The report went on to say that, "The service had an extensive programme of resident-led activities. All the people who lived at the service told us they were happy with the activities and they enjoyed them."
Art Therapy
Residents at Laurel Bank have been discovering their creative sides recently with regular art therapy classes. The paintings are designed to be simple, yet effective, so that anyone can take part and produce a masterpiece! The sessions are kept small to allow people to concentrate on their work, and the paintings are lovely. Many residents now have them brightening up their bedroom walls! Watch this space for an art exhibition opening up in the future
Afternoon Tea with Local Charity
Local charity Vision of Adventure were thrilled to be invited to Laurel Bank recently for Afternoon Tea with our residents, where they were also presented with a cheque for £9,955 from the Barchester Charitable Foundation.
Vision of Adventure run activity courses for visually impaired people, and residents were in awe as Jill Corso, Managing Director, talked about how they had organised a canoeing expedition down the River Spey last year. “What a lovely afternoon, and an incredible charity!”, said one resident.
Chroma Harp Duo
The Chroma Harp Duo performed a selection of soft and relaxing music for the pleasure of residents at the home. Residents really enjoyed the concert, which was a little bit different to the usual singers and performers that visit the home, and even had a chance to play the harps afterwards. One resident said “What beautiful instruments, and what wonderful music! We’re really lucky to have such talented musicians perform for us, and it was lovely to have a go [on the harps’] afterwards!
Upcoming events
Coffee Morning - Every Tuesday
We extend a warm invitation for you to join us and make new friends - all welcome.
