Activities at Orchard House Care Home
Our home is always full of life, and we can thank our wonderful Activities Coordinators for this. Dedication to creating a unique and interesting activities programme is what sets us apart from other homes. We always take into consideration that some people would prefer to pursue their own interests, which is why our team strive to incorporative activities that cater to a wide range of tastes and hobbies. Our trips out are always fun and exciting as well, and residents are guaranteed to return with stories to tell their loved ones!
Katalin Schlepp
Hello, I’m Katie Schlepp, and my job as the Head of Lifestyle is more than a career; it’s my passion. Every day, I have the pleasure of enhancing lives and creating moments of joy for our residents. It’s a privilege to be a part of this community where we celebrate life in all its richness, from organizing engaging activities to fostering connections and ensuring our residents well-being, I’m dedicated to making every day extraordinary. Our residents happiness and comfort are what drive me, and I’m committed to ensuring that your time at Orchard House is nothing short of wonderful.
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 Orchard House Care Home
Supporting our local community
We are delighted to be supporting Age UK with hampers from Orchard House to be distributed to those who will be alone this Christmas, thank you to all the volunteers who support Age UK Isle of Wight, for more information click on the link on our Facebook page - @barchesterOrchardHouse.
We are getting ready for Christmas!
Here at Orchard House we are getting ready for Christmas with the trees going up, the fairy lights twinkling and starting to see some presents gathering at the bottom! Are the Mince pies ready yet?
Arabian dancing at Orchard House
Residents enjoyed an Arabian Nights event this week involving music, dance and a special middle eastern menu prepared by Mike our chef. Colourful scarfs brought the dancing to life with everyone joining in
Residents and Relatives stay connected at Orchard House this winter
Residents are overjoyed at Orchard House care home as Barchester Healthcare has opened a dedicated indoor visiting suite for residents to continue to spend time with their loved ones during the winter season now outdoor visiting that has been on offer for those able for many months is less comfortable.
Balancing resident wellbeing and safety is at the forefront of Barchester Healthcare’s thinking and they understand how important it is for residents and their family and friends to be able to spend time together in the safest way possible.
There has been much careful planning and preparation for this moment by Barchester Healthcare, who run Orchard House care home. It was welcome news for their residents and family and friends as we enter the colder season meaning catch-ups can continue to take place, in addition to Skype and Facetime calls for those further afield.
The designated visiting suite has been designed with both comfort and safety in mind, and has been recently adapted from a room which is accessible internally by residents and externally by visitors. The suite is similar to a living room with comfortable furnishings and heated to create a welcoming and warm environment for residents to continue to spend time with their loved ones in the upcoming months. The suite has an intercom system fitted so residents can clearly communicate, and engage in conversation, whilst being able to see their friends and family through a Perspex glass divider fitted for safety to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Kim Fleming, General Manager at the home, said: “The visiting suite has been a much welcomed development for our residents at Orchard House to continue to receive much looked forward to visits from their loved ones, as the weather changes. Visits are well organised, and a lot of safety measures have been put in place to keep everyone safe. It was wonderful to see how happy it made the residents and their relatives in a warm and cosy environment.”
Sharing Kindness with local primary school
Residents wanted to thank the local school children from Summerfields Primary School who sent lovely drawings and cards so they made ‘gratitude jars’ during a craft session. Angela delivered the jars together with resident’s favourite poems and personal thank you messages. If your school or nursery would like to support Orchard House especially this Christmas when things will be rather different to usual please contact our General Manager, Kim Fleming. We would love to hear from you!
Armistice Day at Orchard House
Orchard House care home in Newport, opened their patio doors to hear the sound of the cannons for the 2 minute silence for Armistice Day.
We heard the cannon at County Hall Newport at 11am on the 11th Day of the 11th Month to pay tribute to the moment in 1918 when the guns of Europe fell silent at the end of the Great War in 1918.
We watched the event in London live on television. This was to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the burial of the “Unknown Warrior” for an morning of commemorations seeing the Royals and Dignitaries at Westminster Abbey in London. Residents were able to enjoy the beautiful music, with teas, coffees and cakes, organised by the hospitality and activities Team.
Staff & residents alike were active this year in the Fundraising Poppy Appeal and had our very own handcrafted Poppy display in the main Reception to raise money for Shanklin British Legion. General Manager of the home Kim Flemming said “ Things are very different this year and we are very proud to raise money for our local British Legion, and giving them our continuing support”
Angela Harding Head of Lifestyle said “For those who have never been to London and Westminster Abbey, today was the next best thing. Being able to watch the Event unfold on the big screen here in the home altogether was very heartening and uplifting for all our residents”.
