Activities at Milford House Care Home
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.
Read our brochure 'Life-enriching activities' for more information about life in our care homes.
Read our brochure
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
St David's Day
Here at Milford we celebrated throughout the day; every resident received their own daffodil. There were large bunches around the home and we encouraged everyone to go out and enjoy the lovely spring sunshine and look at the fabulous display of daffs in our sunken garden. We also had virtual tours of St David's Cathedral running as well – so it was a busy day!
Fresh Air Fridays
‘Fresh Air Fridays’ are back at Milford now that the cold snap is behind us and weather permitting! We are enjoying snowdrops, the early primroses, cyclamen and the daffodils in the rose garden, which are just colouring up and should be at their best for St David’s Day.
National Nest Box Week
As part of our ongoing commitment to developing our lovely wildlife garden, we have been doing the rounds of our nesting boxes and making sure that they are fit for new residents this spring!
Residents love the birds that flock to our gardens and, this year, we are hoping that we get some families deciding to take up residence.
Residents have also chosen two new boxes, which will be going up once we have all decided on suitable locations.
Valentine's Day
Residents at Milford House have enjoyed a range of Valentine’s-themed activities. We have a lovely backdrop of roses, which has brightened up our conservatory, and the decorations have been up in all corners of the home.
On the day itself, all residents were given a rose, a chocolate gift, a poem for the day, as well as a quiz and staff; and residents alike turned their thoughts to family and friends, even though this year we actually be with them right now.
Waiting for Wildlife
Despite the cold and frosty mornings, our wildlife garden is showing signs of springing to life, with bulbs and other plants starting to pop up out of the soil.
Our garden is still in its infancy and, over the winter, we have added a notice board so that we can highlight what is growing in the garden and what wild life to look out for.
We have cleaned out our nesting boxes ready for new residents and we have undertaken the work required to keep the habitat welcoming for any and all visiting wildlife.
We are also working with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, who are sending through activity packs as they cannot visit us in person to help us engage with the wildlife that we attract over the coming months.
Fashion Forward
Residents were treated to a fashion show by one of our care staff, who has a passion for vintage. Carefully selected items were on show and residents thoroughly enjoyed discussing the fabrics and fashions, especially as they could identify with similar items that they themselves had worn.
Accessories were also looked at and how a simple necklace or bag can thoroughly transform an ensemble. This was a really popular event, which we ran several times so that we could keep our groups small and socially distanced. We will be revisiting this activity again later in the season looking at more spring-like items.
