Activities at Milford House 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.
The Activities Team at Milford House are dedicated to providing a range of stimulating activities for both groups and individuals, that promote both physical and mental wellbeing based upon resident's interests both past and present. As a member of the National Activity Providers Association (NAPA) the team are always striving to incorporate best practice into the array of activities on offer and to enhance their own skills through qualification with NAPA to NVQ Level 3 in Activities Provision. The team combine weekly activity favourites such as sherry mornings with special events, musical entertainments, slide shows, outings in our own mini-bus as well as interacting with local community groups such as Plain Arts Salisbury to showcase resident art and creativity and others who come into the home to interact with our residents. Milford House also benefits from a strong network of volunteers who support the Activity Team as they deliver their programme and who, along with friends and relatives, are always welcome to come and join in our sessions and outings.
Gale Louw
Gale joined the Milford team in 2019, initially as a carer but has gradually transferred over to the Activities Team where she is now the full time Coordinator. Gale has a passion to create a comprehensive and inclusive programme of vibrant events for residents, family
members and friends to enjoy and, along with the rest of team, ensure that each resident is able to participate in meaningful activities tailored to their likes and dislikes.
Originally from South Africa, when not at work Gale loves nothing more than exploring the UK, catching up with family and friends, being creative across a variety of disciplines and keeping her eyes out for great activities and events she can bring back to the home for
residents to enjoy.
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 Milford House Care Home
Rousing Sea Shanties from the Navy Larks
We had a fabulous sea shanty afternoon with the Navy Larks, and we can't thank them enough. Singing to a dining room packed with residents, family, and friends, they entertained us with a selection of sea shanties - some familiar to us and some not so well known - but each one had us foot-tapping and hand clapping away and even taking centre stage to join in.
As we celebrate the National Activity Providers Association’s year of musical expression, we are exploring various musical genres and this was a wonderful, cheerful and uplifting way to start and one which left the whole home buzzing! Thank you to all the Larks - we absolutely loved having you and what a great way to start our musical journey!
Celebrating Chinese New Year!
Milford residents welcomed in the Chinese New Year of the Snake in style; the 6th animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese animal zodiac was ushered in with a Chinese banquet prepared by our amazing chef team, which finished with everyone opening a traditional fortune cookie.
Our dining room and tables looked amazing and chopsticks were available for anyone who wanted to give them a go and everyone really joined in the festive spirit as evidenced by the smiles.
Earlier in the day we held a quiz all about China and some residents enjoyed a competitive game of Chinese chequers. Now we just need to wait and see how our fortune cookie revelations work out!!
Art Open Day Reveals Hidden Talents
Milford was buzzing as we held our first monthly 'Art Open Day' which was hosted by our 'Artist in Residence', Wendy Fuller. With the conservatory laid out with materials and examples, residents and visitors got to work creating spring masterpieces.
The results were amazing, and it was inspiring to see so many people exploring their creativity with Wendy on hand to assist and encourage if needed. The home will be holding repeat events each month with a different theme, and we are excited to see the results.
Art in its various forms plays a key role in the life of the home, and we are delighted that this was recently recognised as Gale and the Milford Team were announced as the 2024 winners of 'The Arts in Care Homes' Award at the National Activity Awards.
Musical Memories and Delight
We have been delighted to welcome Music Therapist Fraser from Nordoff and Robbins to Milford House to work with us bringing music to residents both individually and in groups around the home and the collaboration has been brilliant.
Our small group sessions have seen residents enthusiastically playing the drums, singing and playing a variety of percussion instruments, and we have also been delighted to have family members joining in as well.
The individual sessions encompassed music in many forms and were very personal sessions reflecting what each resident wanted to do and hear, and so ranged from playing the drums, to singing along to favourite songs or sometimes just quietly listening. There were lots of smiles and happy faces. We look forward to welcoming Fraser back during 2025, which has been designated the 'Year of Musical Expression' by the National Activities Providers Association, of which Milford House is a member, and developing some other musical initiatives throughout the year.
Milford History Club visit to Salisbury Museum
The Milford House History Club had their first visit of the year to The Salisbury Museum - this will be a regular outing taking place on the third Thursday of each month - and were given a fabulous welcome by Alice Madicott, Project Learning Officer and the team, before stopping for a well-earned coffee at the museum café.
Some of the residents had not visited the museum before and were amazed at how much there was to see and can't wait to go back and explore some of the fascinating history of Salisbury and its surrounds. Special favourites this time were the wonderful Scout car, which is the only car to have been built in the city, and the Salisbury Giant - and who could resist the stocks!
Thanks to the team who arranged and supported the outing and to the Museum who took such great care of us - we will be back in February, and we already have residents looking forward to coming!
Volunteers arrive to start the new year!
Everyone was delighted to welcome our Duke of Edinburgh Award volunteers to the home for the first time as the new spring term started. The girls, who are all pupils at South Wiltshire Grammar School in Salisbury, will be coming to the home on Saturday mornings between now and Easter to meet our residents and take part in our activities, and we are thrilled that they have chosen to volunteer here with us, and we are looking forward to their regular visits.
Their first morning was a 'Getting to Know You' session over coffee and pastries and there was lots of chat and laughter around the room. The girls will be liaising closely with the Life Enrichment team as they continue their visits which form part of the programme so that they can achieve their Duke of Edinburgh Award, and we are delighted to be supporting them in this endeavour.
