Activities at Ochil Care Home

Our residents came together to enjoy an exciting virtual talk courtesy of the team at National Trust Talks Service.  The illustrated talk took us closer to one of Cliveden’s most famous families, the Astors. Our residents were able to discover what motivated William Waldorf Astor, America’s richest man, to purchase Cliveden in 1893 and how the estate became the centre of high society in the 1920 s and 30 s thanks to his son Waldorf and daughter in law Nancy Astor.

We had a lovely time joining Holly and Marie-Therese from the Wallace Collection, for a virtual introduction to the Collection, followed by a sensory exploratory walk through one of the museum’s most famous landscape paintings.  The Collection ranges from Old Master paintings to 18th century French furniture, arms and armour.   We all had a wonderful time and cannot wait to put our creative skills to a test and paint some landscapes in the upcoming days.

We had a lovely time joining Angela Cobbin for a theatre-inspired virtual talk about her book ‘My Name is Not Wigs’.  ‘My Name Is Not Wigs’ is the ultimate read for fans of witty behind-the-curtains memoirs, especially those with a penchant for the bright lights of stage and screen: tears and accolades aplenty!

We were treated to an amazing live virtual talk and a tour of Cliveden, hosted by the house and chapel guides from the National Trust Talks Service.

The volunteers kindly gave us a tour around the famous house taking an in-depth look at Cliveden’s many stories from its 350 year history, from devilish dukes to scandalous headlines and boundary-breaking garden designs to political notoriety.

Starting with the Duke of Buckingham who built the first house in 1666, our residents met the key owners who helped shape the house and its gardens including the Orkney, Sutherland and Astor families.

The talk was accompanied by an illustrated presentation which brought to life these individuals and showed how their influence at Cliveden still continues today.

We had a fabulous time joining NESCAFÉ’s virtual coffee experience.

We were able to look into how they sustainably farm their coffee beans, as well as, to have a virtual tour of one of their factories all from the comfort of our home.

To make things even more interesting, our residents had the chance to test their knowledge with an interactive quiz, and to the delight of all to taste the signature Sweet Cinnamon Shaken Iced Coffee cocktail.

We had a lovely time joining Chef Alex Connell from Vegetarian for Life for a Valentine’s-inspired virtual cookery demonstration.  Chef Alex created some delicious Valentine’s Day-inspired vegetarian desserts, which our residents had the opportunity to try too.

First, our residents sampled a wonderful sticky toffee pudding, which was absolutely heavenly. Then they tried hazelnut truffles which were a huge hit and finally they were treated to a chocolate orange cake which everyone adored.