Activities at Leonard Lodge Care Home
Our teams are trained to enrich the lives of residents through stimulating the mind, body and soul, and taking the time to learn about each person to ensure everyone receives support that adds enrichment to their life.
Our activities team offer a wide range of social events, from the very popular Friday morning bingo, to gentle exercise sessions, skittles, regular animal visits and arts & crafts sessions. We are fortunate to have a team of volunteers who stop by weekly to provide additional support, allowing residents the opportunity for one-to-one sessions. These sessions could include anything, even something as simple as playing a game of Scrabble or just having a cup of tea and a chat. We believe that it is essential to support people in such a way that they are able to continue to live full and happy lives doing the things that they enjoy.
Lynn Amiri
My name is Lynn and I lead the Activities Team here at Leonard Lodge.
Since working at Leonard Lodge I have dedicated myself to ensuring that each of our residents can continue to partake in the hobbies that they have enjoyed for years. It is important that all of the residents here have access to life enriching, fun and social activities.
The whole home supports my team and I to organise activities, events and entertainment tailored to every residents preferences, abilities and needs. Each year we have a fantastically full calendar, and we look forward to the future when we can invite the families of residents to join us in the home again.
I am married with two children and two rather annoying rescue cats. I lived in Italy for a number of years and love all Italian food, especially when somebody else cooks it for me! I love to read, especially crime novels. I am a regular theatre goer with a passion for musicals. I like to sing and dance (albeit badly!).
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 Leonard Lodge Care Home
Pantomime
We were excited to go to the pantomime to see Dick Whittington which featured our very own volunteer Alison who is part of Ingatestone Amateur Operatic Society. Alison sparkled in her bright pink wig and performed beautifully. We got a shout out from the dame and we responded enthusiastically. We had drinks and snacks in the interval and Alison came to see us at the end of the performance. We all agreed it was a great afternoon of fun and laughter and will definitely go again.
Music For Health
We enjoyed a morning of Music for Health with Anastasia. We started with some gentle warm up exercises and followed on with exercises using scarves as shown in the photo. We then played name that tune and resident Sylvia was able to name almost every tune and sing it for us. We played along with tambourines to some old favourites and then relaxed to some classical music before finishing off with a rousing singalong.
Jean’s 101st Birthday Celebrations
We were thrilled and honoured to be able to share Jean’s 101st birthday with her and her family. The kitchen outdid themselves with a gorgeous birthday cake with pink icing and candles spelling out Happy Birthday. Jean was delighted to have all her family and friends round her and managed to blow out all the candles in one go.
Budgies Visit
We were delighted to see the budgies from Performing Pets. The budgies colourful plumage went through a whole spectrum of colour from yellow and green to blue. They delighted the residents with their cheeky chattering which could be heard outside the room it was so loud. Many of the residents reminisced about having budgies when they were children and they brought a smile to all our faces.
Wallaby Visit
We were thrilled to be one of the first ever homes in the UK to receive a visit from a Wallaby. Wilson is 5 months old and was hand reared after being thrown out of his mother's pouch at just 2 months old. Wilson was calm and relaxed about being cuddled and had the softest white fur. Next year Wilson will be introduced to the rest of his family and will live outside as one of the herd.
Christmas Fete
We held a Christmas Fete featuring a variety of stalls including knitted toys, Christmas hampers, table decorations and handmade cards. We enjoyed mulled wine, mince pies and hotdogs with onions and mustard.
We held a raffle in aid of local children's charity called SNAP and raised an amazing £180. We all had a great afternoon with lots of support from residents and their families and raised money for a really good cause.
