Activities at South Chowdene Care Home

Staff, residents, relatives and the local community came together at South Chowdene Care Home to enjoy an Autumn Fair that was held in the home’s grounds which became full of animal mischief on Saturday 7th September when a group of alpacas came to visit the home.

South Chowdene Care Home hosted a variety of activities throughout the day, including raffle, tombola stall, home bake stall and excellent live entertainment but residents and visitors were pleasantly surprised to see their new furry friends roaming around their garden as North Star Alpacas paid a visit.

General Manager Katie Searle said: “Our residents have really enjoyed their unusual visitors today. We knew that having the farm here would be a bit of fun for residents and guests alike.  We are always looking for new activities for the residents and today we have seen the seen the enjoyment and the therapeutic influence animals can have on people.”

Staff at South Chowdene Care Home made everyone feel welcome and were delighted to see different generations having fun together. Visitors enjoyed plenty of refreshments, prepared by the catering team, who were hard at work making sure that a great time was had by all.

Residents from South Chowdene showed their support to the hard working cyclists by lining the route and cheering them on through our home town. Staff and families took residents to join in the community atmosphere and excitement.

They enjoyed seeing the team cars coming through and escort motorcycles had the crowds well warmed up by the time the cyclists flashed through on their way to Kendal.

The residents then nipped back down the bank to South Chowdene to watch the rest of the stage on TV, which brought back many memories from residents' travel adventures. 

Over the last month, South Chowdene Care Home has linked up with the Pride Media Centre in Newcastle to promote LGBT+ rights and acceptance within the care industry. Katie Searle, General Manager and Joanne Fleming, Registered Nurse, attended a sponsorship launch at the Media Centre.

The purpose on the visit was to find out more about the centre, the support that they offer and to form a collaboration in order to support LGBT members and residents, to make them feel valued and socially accepted. 

Staff attended a talk and discussions around barriers faced by LGBT+ community and the fears, which could arise when moving into a care setting with a mark from the Pride Media Centre.

Residents made a rainbow banner and rainbow decorations in craft sessions promoting the discussion around the shift in attitudes over the years towards this subject.

On the Pride weekend, residents made rainbow cakes, which went down very well with visitors, residents and staff alike.

Well done to Jane Millar, who was named as a Divisional Winner in the 'Volunteer of the Year' category for the 2019 Barchester Care Awards.

In the days running up to Sandwich Week, residents were asked about their favourite sandwiches and what memories they brought up, and in some cases, why those sandwiches were consumed regularly in their family.

The favourites were: egg & tomato, ham & egg, pork & pease pudding and corned beef & onion. These featured on the supper trolley individually from Monday to Thurday, each with an accompanying poster that listed who had voted for that particular filling. This in turn promoted further discussion; who knew that a sandwich could fuel such deep conversation and interest?

6 – 12th May was National Nurses Week, and the residents at South Chowdene decided to celebrate this by decorating the home with thank you messages to our nurses and by making them a card each, a certificate and some coconut ice. Each nurse received their pack of goodies when they were on shift.