Activities at South Chowdene Care Home

Residents enjoyed finding out about the little known country of Canada. It was quite fascinating to hear about how big it is and about all the different terrains there are. Who knew that our monarchy is still very much the thing over there and that England could fit into the Province of Ottowa 7 times. We then had a taste of Maple Syrup with pancakes and found out about how the syrup is extracted from the tree.

Clare Lambert-Gardiner has been crowned Home Administrator of the Year for the North NE Division in the Barchester Care Awards 2024 and is through to the national round of judging.

The Barchester Care Awards celebrate the staff who go the extra mile for the benefit of the 13,000 residents living in Barchester’s 261 care homes and private hospitals across the country. Categories range from ‘Registered Nurse of the Year’ and ‘Carer of the Year’ to ‘Dementia Care Champion’ and ‘Activities Coordinator of the Year’.

Staff and residents are celebrating because their wonderful Managing Director, Fiona Fagan, from Barchester’s North East and Scotland Division, has stepped completely out of her comfort zone to compete in the Barchester Charitable Foundation Cook Off 2024.

Fiona went head-to-head with the Managing Directors from Barchester’s four other divisions and cooked up a storm to raise a phenomenal £24,595 for Barchester’s Charitable Foundation which helps connect vulnerable people and those living with a disability to community groups in their local area by providing grants to improve mobility and quality of life.  Each year the Foundation distributes thousands of pounds to individuals, small community groups and charities across England, Scotland and Wales.  

South Chowdene recently presented Mindful Therapies with a cheque for £330 to help with craft materials and refreshments for this CIC aimed at assisting people with mental health challenges.  Mindful Therapies is a social enterprise based in Newcastle City Centre providing the benefits of mindfulness to people who might not otherwise be able to access – in particular people with mental health problems, addictions and history of trauma.

The care home welcomed Dr Rachel Jones Wild and Mark Sidney to a small gathering in the home’s quiet lounge to receive the cheque and celebrate being awarded the grant. Rachel and Mark outlined the initiatives run my Mindful Therapies and showed us examples of outcomes of these.

Residents across our homes had a fantastic time exploring the Eden Project virtually - an educational charity and visitor attraction based in Cornwall, featuring sprawling outdoor gardens and breathtaking biomes that house the largest indoor rainforest in the world.

During the session, residents who joined were reconnected with nature through their senses, memories and stories.  A big thank you to the community team at the Eden Project for the wonderful event.

Avid book reader Edna was overjoyed to meet a real life author at Birtley Library to find out about her books set in the North East.

The latest book is about an area Edna knows well and it was amazing to hear about how a novel is put together and the research behind the stories. Both Maureen and Edna were interested to hear about Glenda Young’s previous novels about ‘Corrie’ and her regular soap in ‘People’s Friend’ We had a lovely afternoon out with local community.