Activities at Lochduhar Care Home
Activities are the cornerstone of a wholesome home experience and our Activities Coordinators are always putting their creative minds to the test by organising new and exciting social events for residents to partake in. Of course, we take into account the likes and dislikes of those we support, so if someone doesn’t feel like trying something new, there will always be something on offer to reflect their personal interests. For the people who may just prefer some peace and quiet instead, we also offer one-to-one time that can be enjoyed with a nice cup of coffee or just a simple chat – whatever they desire.
Sally Gilder
Sally has been in the care sector since 1998. Sally joined the Lochduhar team in 2018 as a care assistant.
Sally is very passionate about the care she provides and the welfare of the residents. Working as a care assistant Sally was able to get to know the residents wants and needs to provide excellent person centred care to each individual. Then in 2020 Sally found the opportunity to become Head of Activities. Sally feels that she provides a different side to herself to promote an active and inclusive lifestyle through her role as Head of Activities.
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 Lochduhar Care Home
Book corner with Henry Slator
We had a lovely time joining Henry Slator for an exciting virtual event to discuss his book ‘Conversations at the Pond’.
Henry had an unusual writing journey, which many of our residents found inspiring, he underwent chemotherapy in early 2020, which allowed him to rediscover his light-hearted outlook on life by imagining conversations with creatures in and around his large garden pond and adding buckets of fun.
The entertaining Conversations at the Pond, with its mass of colourful illustrations, took our residents along his journey, they felt inspired, cheered and loved hearing all about Henry’s experiences.
Easter in style
Staff and residents at Barchester’s Lochduhar care Home care home, in Dumfries, celebrated Easter with a whole host of different activities including an Easter tea party, Easter cake-making and an Easter Bonnet Competition. Residents at Lochduhar enjoyed an eggs-tensive range of Easter activities, from an Easter Bonnet parade, egg painting to a visit from the Easter bunny. Residents also tucked in to a delicious Easter meal prepared by the home’s head chef and her team and of course enjoyed eating chocolate Easter eggs throughout the day.
A day at the races
Residents at Lochduhar care home in Dumfries were treated to a virtual trip to the races to celebrate Ladies Day at Aintree. They had so much fun that they decided to do it all again for the Grand National the next day!
Staff at the care home pulled out all the stops to give the residents an afternoon to remember. They rolled out the red carpet, chilled the drinks and served delicious canapes so that residents felt like royalty. Everyone dressed up for Ladies Day, all the residents picked a horse for the Grand National and the whole home joined in with the celebrations. Our chef made some refreshing and very tasteful mock tails, which the residents thoroughly enjoyed.
Sally Gilder, Head of Activities at Lochduhar said: “Our residents are absolute stars so they deserve to be treated as such. We had such a fantastic time getting dressed up and watching all the races together on Ladies Day – it was such a brilliant day we decided to do it all again the next day too!”
All aboard! Residents enjoy trip
We made the most of the nice weather at the start of the week by taking a bus trip to Thornhill with some of our residents. There was a unanimous decision to stop for ice cream on the way home, which everyone seemed to enjoy!
Dancing Queen's at Lochduhar
To celebrate the anniversary of ABBA winning the Eurovision song contest back in 1974, we held our own party with a sing-a-long. Using our Oomph on Demand activity pack we held quizzes, games and looked at information about ABBA all whilst enjoying a glass of wine of two! Our residents and Activities team enjoyed dressing up for the occasion, donning their scarves and putting on their dancing shoes!
The Astor's at Cliveden
Our residents came together to enjoy an exciting virtual talk courtesy of the team at National Trust Talks Service. The illustrated talk took us closer to one of Cliveden’s most famous families, the Astors. Our residents were able to discover what motivated William Waldorf Astor, America’s richest man, to purchase Cliveden in 1893 and how the estate became the centre of high society in the 1920 s and 30 s thanks to his son Waldorf and daughter in law Nancy Astor.
The Astors time at Cliveden came to an end in the 1960 s after the estate became infamously associated with Profumo Affair, but the house and garden continue to reflect their innovations and passions. We all had a brilliant time.
