Activities at Lucerne House Care Home

Faith, creativity and lot and lots of singing, that is the best way to describe one of our days, in August, at Lucerne House.

In the morning we welcomed Reverend Mike Partridge from St Michael's Alphington for another wonderful communion service. Whilst that was happening, some of our residents were using our sensory art equipment which was a great way to channel our creative side.

In the afternoon we have had lots of fun with Zara King for another fantastic performance. Zara first joined us back in July for our Open day and by popular demand, returned to us and will continue to do so, filling our home with wonderful music, singing and joy when she joins us again, next month.

We have got lots planned in the next few weeks with trips out, more entertainment, exercise, a high tea party and the opening of our brand new "pop up" cinema.

In August we have celebrated another culture. This time, as suggested by Roger and seconded by our residents, we turned towards a Cornish theme.

On Monday 7th, we made homemade scones, which were served the next afternoon for cream tea. This was done in the traditional Cornish way of spreading jam, then topping with cream. They were delicious and enjoyed by residents, staff and visitors. Whilst that was happening, our resident chefs were busy in the kitchen, making homemade Cornish inspired pasties.

On the Tuesday evening, residents have enjoyed the pasties for dinner, accompanied with rattler Cornish cider and followed with a pudding of saffron buns, ice cream, clotted cream and golden syrup or as it’s known "thunder and lightning"

We have a great time and want to thank everyone who has joined in with the event.

In July we had the honour of sharing in the celebrations of Fred, one of our residents, 100th birthday. In the lead up to the event, we shared a story on our Facebook page which got a lot of interest from old friends, people from Fred’s’ village and the wider community. We asked, if they had time, to send him a birthday card. Fred was even interviewed prior to celebrating his big day which became national news. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-66359373?fbclid=IwAR2hZrXnMhNjzGsTFVsoRIkiYxVn9K_qGX2jWFhgMzY5R_5EpCy2857wfCY

On the week of his birthday, Fred donned his jacket and hat for a trip to Exmouth. We drove past his old barracks at Lympstone which Fred saluted to, in memory of all of his fallen friends. Once at Exmouth he enjoyed Fish & Chips before a Stuart Lines cruise along the coast and River Exe. He had a great time and at his grand age, showed no signs of slowing down.

On Fred’s Big day, he was joined by his wonderful family for a birthday celebration at Lucerne House. He had lots of cards, from the publicity the Facebook post garnered. He enjoyed a delicious birthday cake, made by our Head of Ide Nursing Community, Ron Jampil and raised a glass for his 100th birthday with family.

A few days later, Fred was supported to return to the village he lived in for over 70 years, Ide, to see friends and continue his birthday celebrations in his local, the Huntsman Inn. It was lovely to reunite with all of his nearest and dearest, some who he had not seen for a long time.

We want to say thank you to everyone who supported the event and to Fred’s family for allowing us to be a part of it.

Our residents had a fantastic time during a special live virtual event in celebration on National Ice Cream Day.

Wall's team took us on a great journey through history, hearing fascinating details about the brand since its launch in 1922. We learned about major innovations such as the introduction of Mr Whippy, Cornetto, Viennetta and Twister

Our residents were treated to a singalong to Cornetto classic ads, an interactive quiz about fun Wall’s facts and best-of-all, an ice-cream tasting session.

It was a delightful experience for everyone, especially our ice-cream lovers.

Another great achievement for the men at Lucerne House today as we finished the first of our Lego Architecture sets at our Gentleman's club.

It has been quite the task, with lots of tricky pieces, but, with a bit of liquid encouragement and salty snacks to keep us nourished, which is very important at Gentleman's club, we have prevailed and are very pleased with the outcome.

We now look to our next set, the London Skyline which we will begin in a few weeks’ time.

It was anchors away for the residents of Lucerne House in July as they enjoyed a Stuart Line Cruises along the Exmouth Sea Front.

We stopped for a delicious lunch of fish and chips before boarding the boat and taking in all the sights and sounds of the open sea and coast line.

A massive thank you to Cumberland Grange Care Home for the loan of their mini bus and Head of Maintenance, Bob who drove it. With their support we were able to take more residents on the outing and we a so very grateful to you for doing so.

Our residents have had a lovely day out and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We will have more outings in the coming weeks and months for more of our residents to enjoy.