Activities at Newington Court Care Home

Over Father’s Day weekend we celebrated Fathers, Father figures, Step Fathers and all the wonderful men in our lives. The activities team treated our gentlemen to a selection of gifts including sweet treats, cold beverages and plants. 

We welcomed families and friends to join their loved ones for afternoon tea and celebrated throughout the home.

It was our first boat trip of the season, and we were taken for a leisurely cruise up the river by the Kingfisher Medway Trust at Wateringbury. 

Residents took in the scenic views of the beautiful Kent countryside while enjoying afternoon tea including homemade cake on board the boat. Our residents enjoyed reminiscing and feeding the swans and ducks on the river. A memorable time was had by all and we are looking forward to our next trip.

We celebrated National Volunteers Week by saying a big thank you to all of our volunteers, especially Lis, our Anna Chaplain from Newington Church who has supported Newington Court for number of years. We thank Lis for her commitment, hard work, and dedication in supporting our residents to continue to follow their faith, by holding Church Services, and offering Holy Communion for residents within our home. Lis is a great listener and brings a sense of calm, peace and kindness to residents, their families and staff alike.

We would also like to recognise Sharon and Caroline, who have also become valued weekly visitors for our residents. These wonderful ladies not only support Lis and offer companionship and prayers with our residents, but also more recently have been volunteering at our monthly Community Craft Club! Our volunteers are much loved by our residents.

We began Dementia Action week by hosting our first Dementia Disco - using the power of music to inspire memory, conversation and friendship. With live entertainment from Rick Boxall, we sang and danced the afternoon away to classic hits and feel-good favourites. The following day, we were joined by pupils from Newington Primary School for our reading club, which promoted the benefits of intergenerational companionship. Our reading club was a great session for both the children and our residents to bring both generations together as one community. 

We hosted our Community Craft Club where our residents were joined by members of the local community to paint forget-me-not ornaments. We ended the week by launching our Dementia Choir, which was a great success, and our favourite songs included ‘You are my sunshine’, ‘We’ll meet again’ and Cliff Richard’s ‘Summer Holiday'.  Events like these are so important in supporting those living with dementia.

The afternoon’s celebrations were opened by children from Eastling Primary School who sang some Wartime-themed songs. Pearly Queen and Sue Golding followed, and entertained us with some of our favourite cockney and Wartime Songs, which everyone enjoyed singing along to whilst waving their Union Jack flags.

We ended the celebration with a vintage afternoon tea in the dining room and garden. Residents, friends, family and members of the local community came together to honour the heroes of World War II. A day to remember! 

Joan was joined by family, friends, other residents and their families alongside members of the community who came along to enjoy our afternoon of celebrations. Joan was presented with her card from the King and enjoyed a delicious homemade birthday cake. 

After some enjoyable live entertainment, we served a vintage afternoon tea with a selection of sandwiches, sausage rolls, homemade scones and cakes for everyone to enjoy. Joan ended her day of celebrations by spending some time with her closest family and friends in our private dining room, opening her cards and gifts and reminiscing with photos from her younger years. Thank you to everyone who joined us, and for coming together to make the day so memorable. 

Guest speakers Lynn and Graham, from Sittingbourne Indoor Bowls club, joined us for the afternoon. Some of our residents enjoyed reminiscing about when they used to play indoor bowls for various local clubs, while others enjoyed learning about the sport. We were delighted to then be invited to their club the following week. 

Residents enjoyed participating in a small coaching session and had lots of fun exercising their arms whilst being guided by experts Lynn and Graham, who taught them the best way to hold and bowl the bowls down the green. While at the bowls club, our residents also enjoyed some hot drinks and delicious homemade cakes from their café.

Ahead of National Gardening week, we decided to take some of our residents on a minibus trip to visit one of our local garden centres - Gardening World Limited.

Our residents enjoyed a stroll around the garden centre in the glorious Spring sunshine, before visiting the popular Daisy Chain Cafe for some delicious morning coffee and homemade cake. We look forward to visiting them again soon. 

We were delighted to welcome the reigning Miss Kent Junior Pre-Teen, Isabella, to Newington Court Care Home.

She had a wonderful time chatting with the residents, even joining a few of them colouring, they loved asking questions about her pageant journey and how long she had been entering them. The residents absolutely loved her dress and she was asked to twirl countless times. 

She was able to tour some of the homes facilities and learn about what the staff do and how the residents enjoy their time. She even met the first ever Miss Higham from 1953 which was a lovely link to Isabella's carnival days.