Activities at Shawford Springs Care Home

One of our most popular activities here at Shawford Springs are quizzes, so we’ve recently started hosting a team quiz on a Friday afternoon which has proved to be a massive hit!

Last week’s winning team were Anne & Jean - well done ladies!

This week we took a very special trip to Marwell Wildlife, where we were fortunate to have our very own tour guide to show us around - our resident, Richard.

Richard was a volunteer at Marwell for over 5 years before moving to Shawford Springs and knows the zoo like the back of his hand.

His knowledge of each of the animals is simply incredible and he was only too happy to share fascinating facts with us all as we ventured around the zoo.

One place that Richard was particularly keen to visit was the tropical house, which is home to a myriad of beautiful birds, reptiles & fish, as this was where he spent most of his time volunteering.

Not only was Richard able to see all the animals again, but he was also able to catch up with old friends & colleagues, one such friend being Emma who works in the Marwell education department. She met up with Richard at the tropical house and took some time out of her day to catch him up on all the happenings at the zoo. 

All in all it was a truly wonderful trip and we were so thrilled that we were able to give Richard the opportunity to visit a place which means so much to him.

This week we had a visit from Lauren & the Memory Box Foundation who lead a wonderful reminiscence session in our activity room.

She brought a box of fascinating items along with her for us to discuss which were themed around theatre & the silver screen.

Today we visited the beautiful Kimbridge Barn near Romsey for a morning coffee & cake.

It was a lovely trip, with great weather, pretty river views and wonderful company!

Today we were treated to a very special talk by one of our residents, Tony.

Tony gave a fascinating talk about the Royal Observer Corps’ contribution to D-Day, to mark the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day landings.

The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) were a civil defence organisation whose members were trained to detect, identify, track and report aircraft. Their skills proved invaluable throughout WW2 and during the D-Day landings, observers even served aboard the invasion fleet to give early identification of incoming aircraft.

Tony himself served in the ROC for many years and his knowledge & passion for the work they did is exemplary. He had a full house listening to him

this morning, with everyone afterwards commenting on what a fantastic talk he gave.

This morning we had an absolutely fabulous time visiting Romsey Abbey for a guided tour.

We all thoroughly enjoyed learning about the fascinating history of the site (which dates back to 907AD!) and hearing about the changes which have taken place over its lifetime through various monarchs & leaders.

We’d like to thank Rob & the team of volunteers for making our visit so memorable. We look forward to returning again in the future.