Activities at Ottley House Care Home
At Ottley House, we offer a person-centred activities programme, and aim to match residents' abilities and interests with meaningful activities of the correct degree of challenge that promotes their health and well-being. We also provide visual, tactile, audible and olfactory sensory experiences. There are weekly music/movement therapy sessions, 'Oomph' sessions, and arts & crafts classes to help improve, maintain and refine motor skills. We enjoy regular visits from entertainers, musicians and animal therapists, as well as pub nights, 'food from around the world' days, and minibus outings to places of interest.
Alex Evans
My name is Alex and I am the Activities Co-ordinator at Ottley house care home.
I am passionate about enhancing the lives of our residents the home and aim to bring a smile to their faces through different types of activities. My personality is warm, enthusiastic, bright and bubbly and i aim to share this each day at work. I am keen to involve the residents in the decision making within the home to enhance their experience through gathering their likes and dislikes. Come and join us for our life enrichment programmes which promote social interaction, mental stimulation and physical well-being.
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 Ottley House Care Home
Good Will at Christmas
Over the month of December our residents received so many cards from schools, colleges and even nationwide bank.
Our residents were really surprised with how many cards they received.
They were so grateful for the kindness of others to spend the time to write, make and send the cards to the home.
Some of our residents don’t have many family members that visit them so it really does make a difference to them at this time of year receiving something as simple as a card. We are so grateful to all the places that have sent cards in.
Residents Christmas Party
On Tuesday 17th December our residents and staff got into the Christmas spirit as we had our Christmas party.
We started our party with a fantastic buffet lunch made by our amazing kitchen team. The residents love a buffet as it brings them back to when they were younger at birthday parties.
There were plenty of drinks from beers to J2O’s. We had Christmas music blasting and everyone sang along whilst having lunch.
After our buffet lunch we played Christmas pass the parcel where everyone won a prize from ted’s to chocolate. We finished our party off with some carol singing.
Getting Ready for Christmas
Throughout November we’ve been doing many activities to get ready for the festive season.
One of the first activities we did was decorating wooden Christmas ornaments for the trees so each resident could have one with their names on. One resident commented they hadn’t done painting since they were in school and forgot how fun it was.
We’ve also had a demonstration from one of our chefs, Milen, who showed our residents how to make a Christmas cake. They all enjoyed tasting the ingredients.
Our dementia residents have enjoyed making Santa countdown to Christmas clock faces and helping with making centre pieces for the dining room tables for Christmas day. We’ve had a busy month and our residents are so excited to see what December brings.
Holy Communion
On the second Sunday of every month, we have a Holy communion service.
The residents look forward to this service every month where they receive communion. We have a priest come in who is a family member to one of our residents.
Communion means togetherness, and it’s a ritual to show peoples togetherness of Christians and God. At communion the priest gives individuals bread, which is a symbol for Jesus body being broken and wine, which is a symbol of Jesus' blood being spilled. They do this because it's the two signs Jesus shared at the last supper before he was crucified.
Our residents cherish the moment every time they have communion. The priest always has a nice message for our residents to think about too.
When the service is getting close to an important celebration, such a Christmas or Easter, the priest themes the communion around that time, and the residents say it makes that service even better.
The residents really enjoy having the communion as it make them feel together and that they all have something in common.
Celebrating Bonfire Night
On Tuesday the 5th November, our residents wanted to have fun and celebrate bonfire night.
We spent the day learning about the history of Bonfire night. Learning the history of things is one of our residents' favourite things to do.
As the day went on the residents were getting all excited as they were chatting to each other about it.
One resident said its been years since they’ve done any sparklers. At around 5.30pm the residents that wanted to have a go with sparklers came to the lounge. We went out the back of the home and they all lit up with joy as each sparkler was lit. Even the staff got involved.
Everyone tried to spell their names but it was harder than we all thought. It was a great day and everyone enjoyed themselves.
Poppy the Cockatiel
In our home we have a cockatiel called Poppy who's been in our home for around 10 years and our residents love her, we got her when she was only a baby.
They love to sit and have chats about their lives and days to her. They see Poppy as part of their family and their friend.
They look forward to when we have her out flying around the lounge, but we have to make sure the doors and windows are shut or she might get out.
One of the residents' favourite visits is when Poppy comes around to their rooms and they get to see her on a 1-1 basis.
Poppy makes them smile and helps to make their days brighter when they can hear her singing down the corridors.
