Activities at Orchard House Care Home

Staff at Orchard House Care Home have entertained residents with their Christmas antics this December. On Elf Day staff dressed up as elves and their jingle bells could be heard all over the home, the residents could certainly tell where the staff were! Sascha Powell was voted by the residents as the best dressed elf, and she won herself a bottle of wine!

After some Elf crafting from the residents, there was a hunt the elf game. As many of our residents require wheelchairs, the game was adapted to suit. Residents had to close their eyes, staff then hid some elves, and then the residents had to see if they could spot them! There were some very creative hiding places!

The highlight of the day was when residents threw snowballs (polystyrene ones) at the “naughty staff elves”. Residents had so much fun and were quite worn out by the end. Snowballs that made contact with the elves were logged and we had a grand winner, Lillian Prowse, who hit the most elves and won herself some chocolate!

Lillian, a resident, said “What a wonderful day, I really enjoyed throwing snowballs at the staff – what a great Christmas activity”, needless to say this will now become a yearly event!!

Christmas Jumper Day gave staff another opportunity to dress up for the residents, with a variety of Christmas outfits being worn.  Staff added all sorts of Christmas accessories too, and the residents enjoyed admiring all the outfits being sported.

Resident, Sheila, said “It’s always lovely when the staff dress up, it makes the place brighter and more cheerful”.

Orchard House looks very Festive with its lovely Christmas trees. There are 5 within the home, and the residents really like the lights when the dark evenings draw in. The arrival of the trees have put all the residents in a very Christmassy mood.

Just to add to the festive cheer, the maintenance crew have added some lovely bright lights outside of the home too. Christmas has well and truly arrived at Orchard House.

We were very pleased to welcome the Caledonian Society who very kindly gave residents an amazing display of lively dancing. Residents had lots of great things to say about them, especially the energy that the dancers had and that they really liked the kilts.

Orchard House commemorated the signing of the Armistice Day agreement on the day that the guns finally fell silent. They joined the rest of the United Kingdom in holding a two-minute silence at the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, of the eleventh month.

As well as marking Armistice Day by wearing poppies and observing the national two minute silence, residents took part in therapeutic art activities. Residents painted poppies to make their own wreath, made paper plate poppies and hanging poppies. They painted the bottoms of bottles to create their own poppy garden, whilst reminiscing about the significance the day had for them.

Residents at Orchard House in Newport have been celebrating Halloween in style over 3 days.

We held a competition asking the community to deliver their best carved pumpkin to the home, and then residents got to choose their favourite.  The winner was Amy Greenwell and she won a lovely Halloween Hamper, for which she was very grateful.

On Saturday we welcomed the fabulous singer, Annie Daffern, in to the Home to entertain the residents with her wonderful voice, and she sang a nice selection of songs, residents enjoyed singing and clapping along with her.

Following Annie we had a Halloween High Tea. The tables were decorated with black lace table cloths, helium balloons, spider web place mats and stunning orange lustre wear china from the 1950’s, which rekindled some memories.  Our residents had made some beautiful floral centrepieces that graced the tables for our High Tea. Head Chef Claire Daffern created some mouth-watering Halloween fayre for our residents to enjoy – which they did!

On Sunday we held the Halloween Olympics  Each resident had a series of activities to complete, such as pin the spider on the web, spooky skittles, eyeball toss, cauldron capers and witch hat hoopla. We also learned about some traditions dating back to the 9th century which was the precursor to today’s trick or treating.  We played Halloween bingo and had a Halloween quiz.

Orchard House are pleased to be able to offer families the chance to have a 3 course meal or a High Tea in a private dining room with their loved one.  Families have been booking to spend some extra time with their family members in a relaxed setting away from the hustle and bustle of the Home.

We provide a private dining room and deliver a delicious freshly prepared 3 course meal.