RivermeadBarchester Healthcare

Activites at Rivermead Care Home

We all know that keeping active is important. We have created a wonderful culture within the home and we work together to give residents the best possible experience. We are here to ensure that residents enjoy an environment that is both stimulating and socially active. We ensure the team knows each residents' preferences, so that we can deliver a person-centered programme of events and activities. Essential to our homely feel is the strong relationships of trust we build with residents and their families and friends. The home also has its very own minibus for our numerous outings for coffee and shopping, which residents love.

Read our brochure ‘Life-enriching activities’ for more information about life in our care homes.

Read our brochure

Nicola Bedford

Activities Coordinator

Hi, My name is Nicola and I am the activity coordinator for Rivermead. I plan and deliver a range of interactive and stimulating activities throughout the week for all the residents.

We focus our planning through person centred care, meaning the activities we deliver are tailored to each of the residents individual choice and interests.

It’s a very rewarding job role to be in, seeing the residents enjoy their lives to the best of their abilities and enhancing their experiences, building and maintaining friendships and supporting their wellbeing.

Celebrating life at Rivermead Care Home

Rivermead preschool visit

Rivermead is overjoyed when Wathcourt preschool children come in and visit us. This time we decided to take the games into the garden and enjoy the weather. We had games of large connect4, ring toss, crafting at the table and some lovely chattering with all the residents.

Our residents really benefit from this intergenerational activity. They reminisce and have lovely fond memories and form meaningful friendships with the children.

Baking Day

Our residents really enjoy being hands on with the activities here at Rivermead. We have been doing a spot of baking on our memory lane community. Everyone got involved, from measuring the ingredients out, then mixing them up in the bowl.

Then we had to wait for the crucial part of them cooking in the oven before we could taste them! All the residents enjoyed testing the buns to make they were delicious of course!

Sunny days out

Rivermead have been making the most of the sunny weather recently, and we decided to have a lovely walk into Norton town. We started by walking to the duck pond where we fed some swans and ducks, and spent some time chatting and admiring the peace and quiet, then we were greeted by a lovely little fury friend who enjoyed some petting from our residents.

Then we walked up to the local pub, The Derwent Arms, for a lovely drink and a spot of lunch. The residents thoroughly enjoyed their day out, thanking the whole day for being able to come out of the home.

Happy Easter!

Rivermead was in celebration over the Easter weekend as we watched some lovely church services broadcast on the TV’s. Then everyone was delighted to receive their Easter eggs or an alternative gift to chocolate if they wanted. Our new Resident Ambassador ‘Pat’ was helping the Easter bunny to deliver their gifts around the whole home.

Pat received many thanks from everyone, and even got a cuddle of thanks from some who were overjoyed to be getting a gift.

Open Day!

Rivermead had a wonderful time at our first open day since our WOW renovation! Our residents were warmly greeted in the morning by the amazing ‘Butterwick Alpaca Retreat’ with some furry friends to pet and feed including Guinea Pigs and rabbits.

Visiting animals are such a fun and exciting activity for our residents, especially ‘Margaret’ who used to work for the land army during the war, and she expressed that “Alpacas aren’t anything like working with cows but they are lovely and fluffy!”

Then in the afternoon, we donned our best hats to celebrate the Grand National along with some drinks as we cheered on those jockeys and their horses!

Flower Arranging!

Entering into spring is a great time to spruce up the gardens! Our residents enjoyed their day organising some flowering arranging for around the home. The residents chose the colours they wanted to use, then snipped and arranged into some beautiful floral arrangements.

This activity was a wonderful experience of the senses; the room smelt amazing! The residents worked together, helping each other with their creative ideas and this in turn encouraged more friendships within the home.

St Patrick's Day!

Rivermead enjoyed celebrating St Patrick's day with Irish-themed activities throughout the day. We started the day off with some good Irish-themed quizzes with the residents enjoying some of the fun facts and learning some new things!

Later on, we hosted a “happy hour” for all the residents as they enjoyed their favourite tipples, including baby Guinness, Irish coffees and those who enjoyed a nice whisky over ice. Everyone got involved and the staff and residents were really in the Irish spirit, wearing their best hats!

Pancake Day!

Rivermead had a “flipping” good day celebrating pancake day! Our head chef, Sarah, gave us all a wonderful show as she flipped pancakes in each dining room, encouraging the residents to give it a go; Margaret flipped a pancake!

Later on that day, we all decorated our own pancakes with their desired toppings. This was a great sensory experience for our residents on memory lane community.

Everyone really enjoyed their day and got involved, praising Sarah the chef a day later for her wonderful culinary skills.

Zoo Visit

Rivermead enjoyed their day trip to the zoo in the band's new minibus! Norman, Ken, Malcom and Glenda had been excited in the run-up to our outing, and we had a little surprise for Glenda as her family also joined us on our trip and Glenda was so happy!

The residents enjoyed seeing the animals up close and although the weather was not great, everyone still had a lovely time being outside in the fresh air!