Activities at Maple Leaf Lodge Care Home

Residents were treated to an interactive virtual Christmas bauble-making masterclass courtesy of the very talented Jennifer Owen, from Goldfinch. 

Founded by Jennifer, Goldfinch is a floral design studio based in central Somerset that prides itself on delivering out of the ordinary flowers to people who are craving something a bit different. During the workshop, residents were invited to join Jennifer to make unique, hand-made Christmas baubles to gift to friends and relatives or to hang on the home’s Christmas tree. The baubles were filled with beautiful dried flowers and grasses to create simple yet stunning decorations.

Goldfinch’s founder, Jennifer Owen, said; “Delivering workshops like this is absolutely the best part of my job. I just love helping people create something beautiful and seeing how much they gain from the experience residents finished off the afternoon with a glass of bubbly and a mince pie."

Maple Leaf have been supporting BBC Children In Need. Staff and residents dressed up in their Pudsey outfits for the occasion. Staff members were paired with residents for our afternoon quiz, and one our residents and activities assistant, Courtney, won the quiz with a score of 28. The game was very competitive!

Staff and residents were treated to an interactive Christmas theme floristry masterclass, courtesy of master florist, Michal Kowalski, from Blooming Haus. Residents and staff were invited to get together flowers and foliage, chosen by themselves, and follow Michal’s demonstration to create their own Christmas wreath.

International Men's Day (IMD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on November 19 to recognise and celebrate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of men. We have introduced our own weekly men’s club for residents to take part in, it is know that men can often feel isolated and lonely in an often female dominated care environment. This allows us to provide activities for them that addresses their needs specifically. As we got to talking today all of the men share an interest in football. It was only fair we had a game!

Staff  swapped their uniforms for costumes on National Elf Day in an effort to raise funds to help people living with dementia.

Launched by the Alzheimer’s Society and delivered direct from the North Pole, Elf Day was created to sprinkle some festive cheer on fundraising towards finding a cure for dementia. From stripy socks to head-to-toe elf outfits, anything goes – there’s snow better way to raise money to help beat dementia.

Residents had an elf scavenger hunt which led them all around the home looking for naughty elf Rudy who was hiding in one of the bedrooms. We then had a Christmas scent guessing game.

Residents at were treated to a virtual cruise and interactive cookery demo taking in some mocktails, exotic dishes and mystery destinations courtesy of chef, Paul Hawkins, and Lisa Richards from Unilever’s Away from Home team which supports the care sector. Chef Paul whipped up some tasty treats in a live, interactive cookery demo.