Activities at Rivermead Care Home

Staff and residents at Barchester’s Rivermead care home in Malton were treated to an armchair work out courtesy of the Green Goddess, Diana Moran, and Shackleton’s furniture company, followed by a mindfulness session led by Shackleton’s Emma Raybould.

Diana rose to fame as a glamorous fitness guru on BBC’s Breakfast Time in the 1980’s and has made an outstanding contribution to improving the health and wellbeing of people in the UK. She now brings that experience to Shackletons as their Health and Wellness Adviser.

As part of Barchester’s Life Enrichment Programme, team members and residents at Rivermead enjoyed an exciting virtual talk, generously hosted by Five Sisters Zoo.

The residents had the opportunity to explore and learn more about the animal life at the zoo and the important conservation, rescue and education work carried out at the grounds of the zoo.

Five Sisters Zoo was officially established in 2005 with just a small collection of rabbits, guinea pigs, goats, and pigs. Since then the zoo has grown into an exciting collection of over 160 different animal species from all around the world.

Staff and residents at Barchester’s Rivermead care home in Malton were treated to a virtual tour of the wonderful underwater world of SEA LIFE London Aquarium, hosted by Senior Curator, James Wright and his expert team.

SEA LIFE London Aquarium is home to more than 300 species and 4,000 creatures, including Gentoo Penguins, Sea Turtles and Seahorses, which are cared for by its dedicated team of 15 Aquarists. The shark tank alone is one million litres in volume and six metres deep and is home to five species of sharks – Sand Tigers called Bungle and Zippy, a Grey Reef Shark, Nurse Sharks, Tawny Nurse Shark and a shiver of Black Tip Reef Sharks as well as a Bowmouth Guitarfish called Betty.

James’ presentation featured getting up close and personal with SEA LIFE London Aquarium’s colony of Gentoo Penguins, residents were able to watch feeding time for Green Sea turtles and numerous sharks! 

James says: “It was wonderful to be able to show the Barchester residents some of the fantastic creatures we have at SEA LIFE London Aquarium, we are very proud of the work our brilliant teams do.  We were just so happy to be able to share our beautiful world beneath the waves with them.”

Lucy Tomlinson, Resident Experience Manager for Barchester Healthcare, commented: “We have been using technology to keep our residents and patients connected with their loved ones as well as offer virtual events, entertainment and activities throughout the pandemic.  We are excited to work with our amazing partners like SEA LIFE London Aquarium to bring a wide range of fantastic experiences into our homes for all to enjoy, particularly as this talk provided such a lovely opportunity to see so many different animals and learn all kinds of fascinating facts about them.

“Our varied life enrichment programme keeps residents active and socially connected, providing a daily choice of engaging physical, mental and spiritual activities tailored to residents’ interests and abilities,” Lucy added.

General Manager, Sarah Jackson said: “Our residents love finding out about new things and they are all especially interested in animals so we were delighted to be able to watch this presentation.  We had so many questions, it was brilliant to be able to ask James and his team all about their experiences of working with the different creatures.”

SEA LIFE London Aquarium is gearing up to reopen to guests on May 17 in line with the Government’s proposed roadmap out of lockdown.

We are welcoming new residents into our homes to ensure that we are there for those that need care and support. We’re making our homes as safe as possible and will ensure that all new residents and staff are vaccinated before moving in or working in our homes.  Please do give us a call on 01653 696 942 if you are looking for care or need any further help.

Rivermead is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering high-quality care across its care homes and hospitals. Rivermead provides nursing care, residential and dementia care, respite care.

For more information please contact Sarah Jackson, General Manager at Rivermead on 01653 696 942 or Sarah.Jackson@Barchester.com

Happy Mother's day to all the lovely Mums from everyone at Rivermead Care Home

We would like to say a massive thank you to Morrison's Malton Community Champion for donating the beautiful flowers to our home for Mother's Day.  All the ladies received an individual flower arrangement for their rooms, created by activities coordinator, Beth. 

Here at Rivermead we are helping to tackle any feelings of isolation for our residents during this difficult period.

Residents are encouraged to use the iPad & tablet to reach out to their friends, families, loved ones and community groups.

This morning one of our ladies joined the Dementia Forward Singing Group and sang along with them virtually via Skype.

It is important to enable our resident's to keep connected with the relationships and communities they were apart of before lockdown.

Today at Rivermead we jumped into wonderland. Our Alice in wonderland themed day has been organised by Colette Craven, Vixx Taylor & Layla Rainbow. Staff and residents stepped into character with their fancy dress and residents spent the morning making hats all ready for our mad hatter's tea party.

The amazing tea party foods and fancies were made possible by chefs Sarah Lightfoot, Graeme Bennison and their team of kitchen assistants. With the variety of foods on offer there was definitely something to please everyone's taste buds including the impressively, scrumptious profiterole tower.

Residents cheered and clapped as Lena Walker, our resident ambassador addressed the staff "I think I speak for everyone when I say what a fabulous party this has been, probably one of the best since I have been a resident here. The food was lovely and a credit to the kitchen team. Thank you very much for organising this."