Activities at Rivermead Care Home

We had a lovely time joining Henry Slator for an exciting virtual event to discuss his book ‘Conversations at the Pond’.

Henry had an unusual writing journey, which many of our residents found inspiring, he underwent chemotherapy in early 2020, which allowed him to rediscover his light-hearted outlook on life by imagining conversations with creatures in and around his large garden pond and adding buckets of fun.

The entertaining Conversations at the Pond, with its mass of colourful illustrations, took our residents along his journey, they felt inspired, cheered and loved hearing all about Henry’s experiences.

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!

Angela shared interesting facts with our residents about her book, her life and her experiences as a wig creator in London’s West End in celebration of World Theatre Day.

Here at Rivermead today we are celebrating not 1 but 2 long term service awards. Hailey has been part of the Rivermead team for 15 years. She started with us as a housekeeper and then found her vocation was within our care team.

Graeme has been part of the Rivermead team since 2012 and has recieved his 10years service award as our 2nd chef.

General Manager Sarah Jackson thanked them for their hard work and dedication to our residents and the home and awarded them both with certificates, their long term service award pin badges, gift voucher and a personal treat.

Monday morning was so beautifully sunny that we were inspired to dust off the Rivermead Charabanc and take an excursion – where else – to the seaside! The happy trippers Andy, Brenda and Joan were soon singing along with Tom Jones and Elvis, amongst others, as the bus headed East.

Having parked in Scarborough’s harbour, seagulls squawking overhead, we made our way along the promenade to the Bay View Coffee House which offered a splendid view of the sparkling sea, lighthouse and distant cliffs. Over coffee and sandwiches, Brenda reminisced about many happy trips to the seaside, and her very vivid memories of the past. Andy chatted about his Army days and how much he had enjoyed the Cyprus sunshine. Joan told us of a 1930s family holiday in Scarborough when her parents, eight sisters and two brothers, would picnic on the beach. On one occasion, when she was only six, she wandered off and got lost … Fortunately she was found by two enormously tall – to her – policemen who managed to reunite her with her much relieved family! Joan also recalled enjoying annual Sunday School Scarborough holidays.