Activities at Oaklands Care Home

As we took time to remember the Brave soldiers that fought and gave their lives for us we were treated to a very special drive by from Bottisham air museum with their military vehicle’s and personal all dressed up and gave us a little parade, it gave us an opportunity to reminisce about stories we had shared amongst our families. Later that day we enjoyed a cuppa with friends and read through the oomph workbooks, giving us more opportunity to remember loved ones.

Moorea has wished for a punch and Judy show and at the last couple of residents meeting she has suggested this ,so with a lot of phone calls and emails we made that happen. We were joined by the punch and Judy show along with the vintage ice cream bike and cloud 9 choir for a fabulous family afternoon, it didn’t all quite go to plan but we adapted to the weather conditions as the afternoon went on. We enjoyed a 30 minute show with audience participation and then we learnt about the puppets and some history behind it all. Families were then able to move outside as the sun had finally come out from behind the clouds(maybe the sun is scared of puppets!!)and we were treated to some wonderful singing in our courtyard as we enjoyed delicious ice-cream. Wonderful afternoon all in all.

Father’s day was a massive success for us here at Oaklands as we tried something a little different and from the feedback from residents and families we will be doing this kind of activity again, we took residents to meet their loved ones for a drink at the local community sports and social club who welcomed us with open arms, the sun shone for us which was  an added bonus, we enjoyed real beer in a pint glass or two and chatted and laughed and everyone made memories and came away very happy and maybe a little tipsy!!

We certainly slept well that evening.

We had the absolute pleasure of attending Cambridge united football clubs memory café where we joined other families and carers to share a cuppa and a chat. Jake the host was extremely welcoming. The session had a theme of music so the topic of conversation was around our favourite music and it resulted in a little sing song at the end of the session singing the clubs anthem of “I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts” which we all found a real tongue twister and laughed about lots. We look forward to going again to this café which is held once a month.

What a fabulous time we have had this week celebrating Cadbury’s 200th Anniversary in conjunction with Dementia action week.

We have enjoyed reminisce with the old packaging and posters that we received in the memory car box ,also a taste of a variety of Cadburys bars some tasting a boost for the very first time. We held a quiz all about Cadburys learning lots of fun facts and enjoying some laughs along the way with Jude asking “what’s inside a double decker?” and Judy replying “a bus”.

We were amazed at the amount of money that Britons spend on chocolate a year being over £3 Billion!!

We welcomed Bambi into the home this week and she did not disappoint, with her glittery purple hooves.Bambi is a local pony from Chippenham who is very well trained and a fantastic form of pet therapy.

Our residents ,family and staff loved her visit and it was a great sensory experience from the touch to even the smell!!!

Residents were engaged with Bambi owners Linda and Kevin as they reminisced of times as children and playing with pony’s or seeing them in the fields, they asked about their care needs too and generally how her visit had lifted their moods.

One resident was brought to tears as Bambi entered her bedroom, these were tears of joy and excitement and she proceeded to  stroke Bambi saying “how wonderful can she stay forever”

The great benefit of pet therapy  like Bambi is not only can she visit our communal areas she is able to go into our rooms and see our residents that are cared for in bed, as you can see Michael enjoyed a tickle from Bambi as she sniffed his neck, we can’t wait to welcome Bambi back into the home.