Activites at Milford House Care Home

'Just Wonderful' was how one of our residents described our visit to Imagine This toddler group in Salisbury - and the good news is that these visits are now a regular feature of our activities programme as we will be going on the second Wednesday of each month.

Thank you to the whole Imagine This team and the parents and children who made us all feel so welcome and included us in their activities. It was lovely to chat over coffee - and the chocolate cake was declared the best ever by one of our residents! - and watch all the activity going on as the children explored the wonderful colourful and engaging space that has been created by Rebecca and Kirsty. It was a very special morning and we can't wait for the next one!

As part of Volunteers Week, residents and team members hosted a special lunch and were delighted to welcome the Chair of Laverstock & Ford Parish Council, Councillor Laura Jones and Councillor Nick Baker who is also our Wiltshire Councillor, to share in our celebrations. Following a heartfelt message from Nick about the important role of volunteers in our communities, Chair Laura presented all the volunteers present with a certificate and a small token of our appreciation for all they do here at Milford House.

We are truly grateful to all our volunteers and the varied ways in which they support Milford and our residents and, judging by the chat and laughter around the table, a good time was had by all! Thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy day to come, and a special mention to our chef team and Glenys and Jane who put everything together and created such a wonderful celebration.

Residents took part in the Salisbury Art Scene's 'Art in the Square June event with our stand in the Guildhall Square showing off artwork created at our regular art sessions and monthly 'Art Open Days' run under the guidance of the home's 'Artist in Residence,' Wendy Fuller. The residents had also turned their work into a range of greetings cards which they were selling in aid of their chosen charity for 2025, Childrens Chance, based in Salisbury.  A number of residents enjoyed going down to the square to not only see their own work exhibited but to view all the displays and gain inspiration from them as well.

During the day, other artists and members of the public dropped by the stand in a steady stream. The interest generated was amazing and people were so complimentary about the work on the show and were genuinely interested in hearing about Milford’s artistic programme. We will be attending again at the beginning of September when we will be showing off our work around the theme 'green' as we prepare for Arts in Care Homes day, which is being held on the 24th September, and we are really excited to start working on this – so watch this space!   

WOW, is the only word for our visits to the fabulous Salisbury Cathedral Flower Festival, The Spirit of Water. We may have been slightly biased, but we LOVED display number 62, which was created by our More Than Just a Gardener, Caroline, and her colleagues and featured flowers from the Milford House garden and which had a sustainable theme and was called 'Everything But the Kitchen Sink!

Residents were also delighted to be able to identify the fish they had created and handed in, displayed as part of the Community entry 'Under the Sea'. All the displays were simply stunning and we each had our favourites, but the colour, variety and imagination behind each display was outstanding, and the whole event was awe-inspiring. The Cathedral provides the most stunning backdrop to a host of events, but this has to be one of the best! Congratulations to everyone involved. 

Recently, one of our Resident Ambassadors, together with our General Manager, Aga, was delighted to be able to present Jane Miller from the Childrens Chance charity with a cheque for £230 as a result of their recent fundraising. Following a talk by Jane at the home earlier in the year, the charity, which funds activities for children and young people in and around Salisbury who otherwise would miss out on the opportunity to take part, was chosen by the residents as their charity to support throughout 2025. 

The cheque for £230 was as a result of recent fundraising that took place at our Mother's Day and Mad as a Hatter parties - so a huge 'thank you' to everyone who came and supported these events. Jane initially came to talk about the charity, which has been running for over 25 years, earlier in the year and the residents were so impressed to hear about their work that they immediately decided that they would like to offer their support, feeling that any money raised for this small, local charity would help make a real difference to children within our local community. We are looking forward to hosting more events during 2025.

Residents, family and friends marked the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day in style by throwing a 1940s afternoon tea party to remember. The home was decorated in red, white and blue and residents and staff dressed up in their 1940s-inspired or Union Jack-themed glad rags. There was an afternoon of music from that era courtesy of the fabulous Cosmic Sparkle, who led everyone in a good old-fashioned sing-a-long with hats as an optional extra! There was also a delicious selection of cakes cooked up by Chef Becky which were, of course, all washed down with a cup of traditional English tea. 

Along with people up and down the country, residents also observed the national two-minute silence and many watched the service of thanksgiving and remembrance from Westminster Abbey. There was also plenty of time for reminiscences about VE Day; personal memories or those passed on by loved ones and more. It was a truly memorable and special day. 

The Easter weekend was festive and fun here at Milford with a lot going on. Good Friday saw the last of our decorations being prepared as residents created bright and cheerful centrepieces for the dining room tables. Easter Sunday brought the Easter Bunny with Easter Eggs for everyone, while our chef team served up a delicious lunch with family and friends in attendance and lots of smiles all round.

Last, but not least, with the Bank Holiday Monday rounding off the weekend, we held our 'Mad as a Hatter' Tea Party, which was enormous fun with everyone entering into the spirit of the event. With donations for our chosen charity for 2025 on both Sunday and Monday, we were delighted to be able to forward £72 to Childrens Chance. A huge thank you to everyone who contributed.

Residents have been busy working on creating colourful fish which members of the community are being asked to decorate for use in some of the flower displays for the Salisbury Cathedral Flower Festival: 'Spirit of Water', which will be on from the 13th - 18th May. Residents have now completed 80 fish which will be handed in to the Cathedral this week as our contribution to the festival, and residents will be visiting the festival as well and will hope to identify some of their fish on display!  

For anyone not able to visit the festival, we will be creating our own display to coincide with the festival in our gallery area, so do stop by and have a look.  But we are not stopping there as our More Than Just a Gardener, Caroline, is also collaborating on an exhibit and has asked us to join in creating some of the decorative items for her display, so we are excited on both fronts to be participating in such a fantastic event. 

Residents, family and friends joined together to celebrate all the special ladies; sisters, aunts, godmothers and more on Mother’s Day. With the sun shining on what was also the first day of British Summer Time and making it feel like spring had definitely arrived, it was especially lovely to see so many family members and friends visiting the home. 

There was a special Mother's Day lunch with a fabulous traditional Sunday roast cooked by our Head Chef Kevin and his team. The dining room and tables looked festive and spring-like and, with a floral theme, it was wonderful to have so many tables booked in our conservatory, as well as full dining rooms and to hear the chat and laughter around the home.