Activities at Marriott House and Lodge Care Home

Jean Collyer, Volunteer at Marriott House and Lodge Care Home in Chichester has been named as a Divisional Winner in the 2020 Barchester Care Awards.

The awards celebrate staff and volunteers who go the extra mile for the benefit of individuals living in Barchester care homes. Categories range from ‘Registered Nurse of the Year’ and ‘Carer of the Year’ to ‘Maintenance Champion’ and ‘Team of the Year’.

As the winner for the divisional Volunteer of the Year category, Jean has automatically gone through to the national Barchester Care Awards finals, where she will be interviewed by the judges for the last round of judging. In October, Jean will be invited to attend the Care Awards ceremony where the achievements will be celebrated, and the National Winners will be announced. We are planning for this to take place virtually on the 8th October 2020, further details to follow.

Jean Collyer said: “I was totally shocked when I received the letter, it was totally unexpected, it is a joy to volunteer at Marriott House and Lodge and it is my pleasure to be able to support the amazing residents and staff, it is nothing short of an honour.”

Acting General Manager, Irene Pudduck, said: “This is an amazing achievement, and the staff, residents and community are supporting Jean wholeheartedly. It’s more important than ever to recognise everyone that has worked so hard. It is lovely to recognise these individuals. There isn’t a more worthy winner, and we’re really excited for the National Awards ceremony in October where Jean will hopefully take home the crown.”

Our residents and staff really enjoyed this day.

Normally each year we are able to make the short journey to enjoy a day out at Glorious Goodwood, but sadly due to the current situation with Covid-19, this year it was not to be.

As part of Unibet Racing’s sponsorship of #GoRacingGreen and as the official betting partner for the Qatar Goodwood Festival, this year Glorious Goodwood was taken to the residents.

Debbie Matthews, who runs the #GoRacingGreen initiative had the idea that as the resumption of racing to the public is still some time away and with the most vulnerable like those in residential facilities, unable to go out, racing should be taken to them.

Ed Nicholson, head of Kindred Racing sponsorship and communications, put the idea to Goodwood Racecourse, who provided details of local care facilities within the area. This resulted in Debbie contacting Sarah Harding, the activities coordinator at Marriott House, who was absolutely delighted to be involved in activating Glorious Goodwood from the comfort of the care home.

A special lunch was served to all residents on the day, followed by an afternoon garden party whilst watching the racing. Staff and residents also dressed up for the occasion and had been busy making fascinators and decorations ready for the afternoon.

Debbie commented: “When I spoke to Sarah, she was absolutely delighted that the residents were going to have the opportunity to be involved in Glorious Goodwood and do something different.

Debbie said “ I have been very conscious that with the ongoing limitations on race day attendance it was really important to start reaching out to communities in a different way, so it is brilliant that we are able to involve those at Marriott House to start things off. Hopefully going forward, we can do much more of this, thanks to Unibet’s support.”

Jon Barnett, general manager at Goodwood Racecourse added: “It been fantastic seeing this wonderful initiative between GoRacingGreen and the Barchester Care’s Marriott House Lodge in Chichester come to fruition.

“Many care homes and their staff have faced an incredibly challenging few months during Covid-19. While we are sad not to host residents on the course this year, it is fantastic that everyone at the Marriott House has entered into the spirit.”

Sarah Harding, Head of Activities at Marriott House and Lodge said ‘We would like to thank everyone for  involving us, everyone had an amazing time and Debbie truly helped us have an afternoon to remember, we hope to work with Debbie in the future. Residents and staff dressed for the occasion and had been busy during the week making fascinators and decorations so the excitement had built up over the week and resulted in everyone having a lovely afternoon, Everyone was particularly excited when we were mentioned live on ITV! ’

Kevin a resident at Marriott House and Lodge said ‘it was a lovely afternoon and although I didn’t choose and winning horses it was lots of fun’

Molly a resident in the home said ‘At 100 years I am a lady of leisure and being in the beautiful gardens with a glass of Pimm’s and delicious cream tea surrounded by my friends was amazing, the staff dressed for the occasion and we had been busy during the week getting ready, thankyou to everyone that made it happen’. 

As part of Unibet Racing’s sponsorship of #GoRacingGreen and as the official betting partner for the Qatar Goodwood Festival, this year Glorious Goodwood was taken to the residents.

Debbie Matthews, who runs the #GoRacingGreen initiative had the idea that as the resumption of racing to the public is still some time away and with the most vulnerable like those in residential facilities, unable to go out, racing should be taken to them.

Ed Nicholson, head of Kindred Racing sponsorship and communications, put the idea to Goodwood Racecourse, who provided details of local care facilities within the area. This resulted in Debbie contacting Sarah Harding, the activities coordinator at Marriott House, who was absolutely delighted to be involved in activating Glorious Goodwood from the comfort of the care home.

A special lunch was served to all residents on the day, followed by an afternoon garden party whilst watching the racing. Staff and residents also dressed up for the occasion and had been busy making fascinators and decorations ready for the afternoon.

Debbie commented: “When I spoke to Sarah, she was absolutely delighted that the residents were going to have the opportunity to be involved in Glorious Goodwood and do something different.

Debbie said “ I have been very conscious that with the ongoing limitations on race day attendance it was really important to start reaching out to communities in a different way, so it is brilliant that we are able to involve those at Marriott House to start things off. Hopefully going forward, we can do much more of this, thanks to Unibet’s support.”

Jon Barnett, general manager at Goodwood Racecourse added: “It been fantastic seeing this wonderful initiative between GoRacingGreen and the Barchester Care’s Marriott House Lodge in Chichester come to fruition.

“Many care homes and their staff have faced an incredibly challenging few months during Covid-19. While we are sad not to host residents on the course this year, it is fantastic that everyone at the Marriott House has entered into the spirit.”

Sarah Harding, Head of Activities at Marriott House and Lodge said ‘We would like to thank everyone for  involving us, everyone had an amazing time and Debbie truly helped us have an afternoon to remember, we hope to work with Debbie in the future. Residents and staff dressed for the occasion and had been busy during the week making fascinators and decorations so the excitement had built up over the week and resulted in everyone having a lovely afternoon, Everyone was particularly excited when we were mentioned live on ITV! ’

Kevin a resident at Marriott House and Lodge said ‘it was a lovely afternoon and although I didn’t choose and winning horses it was lots of fun’

Molly a resident in the home said ‘At 100 years I am a lady of leisure and being in the beautiful gardens with a glass of Pimm’s and delicious cream tea surrounded by my friends was amazing, the staff dressed for the occasion and we had been busy during the week getting ready, thankyou to everyone that made it happen’. 

Congratulations to Jean Collyer, who has been named as a Divisional Winner in the 2020 Barchester Care Awards. Jean is a finalist in the Volunteer of the Year category, and has been invited to attend a virtual awards ceremony on 8th October, where she will find out if she has won overall.

During the recent lock down Marriott House and Lodge received a donation of a beautiful bird table from G.J.Hancock & Sons General Builders. The new table has taken pride of place in the middle of the garden and the residents have taken on the job of feeding the birds daily.

The residents and staff found out that the owner of the company was raising money to purchase some specialist equipment for his nephew Tommy, so with this in mind they were determined to do something to say thank you!

Tommy was born with a rare chromosome disorder which means he is currently non-verbal and has limited mobility. Tommy is nearly 4 years old and has outgrown his buggy. All money raised was to help purchase a specialist buggy and some much-needed sensory equipment.

Marriott House and Lodge held a 1960s themed day, staff dressed up and a day of themed activities were held, including lots of singing, dancing and reminiscing about the 1960s!. A raffle was also held. The home raised £165 in total which will go towards the equipment Tommy needs.

For some residents at Marriott House and Lodge care home in Chichester, the long-awaited reunion with family and friends became a reality recently, as limited garden visits have now been allowed to commence at the home.

There has been much careful planning and preparation for this moment by, and at this point it is a limited and cautious approach.

It was welcome news to so many residents, family, and friends, who were kept apart for so long following strict government guidance. Residents and their relatives enjoyed getting together in the home’s garden for a much needed catch up. These visits are full of joy and chatter. We have also been able to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries within socially distancing guidelines which has been much appreciated by all involved.

Our  home has received lots of donations for staff and residents from the community. Thank you so much.  Here are just some of what we received.

Staff have been received donations of homemade head bands to help hold masks place, PPE visors made from Tangmere aviation museum, Dominoes Pizzas also delivered lunch for all the staff on one day, many other donations of sweets and treats have also arrived at the front door. .

The residents requested some pairs of knitted hearts, one to send to their family and one to keep themselves. We received these in the post and have been sent out to relatives and friends.

The residents have received snacks and chocolate treats from John Lewis at Home. This has prompted the home to refill these snack boxes every week which everyone is enjoying. Other treats were also arriving at the door and these were always well received.

The residents of Marriott House and Lodge requested a new bird table, however due to the lockdown we were unable to access one locally. So we put out an SOS to the local community and were thrilled to receive a donation of a brand-new handmade bird table from G.J. Hancock & Son General Builders.  The new table has taken pride of place in the middle of the garden and the residents have taken on the job of feeding the birds daily.

We have also continued to receive letters, poetry, pictures via our pen pal initiative which has continued to be very popular. If you would like to become a pen pal please contact the home, we would love to hear from you!

Engaging with the community allows the home to carry on as normal, and keeps spirits high, as visitors are currently not able to visit the home at this time.  THANK YOU ALL