Activities at South Chowdene Care Home

South Chowdene residents were hooked on the Women’s Football World Cup from the off with each residents picking a team at random and having their team flag on their bedroom door until they were knocked out. Various matches were quite heated with friends facing each other and hoping to come out on top. As teams disappeared off doors and the final 16 were whittled down, residents kept an eye on the ‘Match board’ as well as the ‘form’ of teams moving through. England games saw a lot of flag waving and residents learnt a ‘Pom dance’ to perform before England matches. Despite the huge opposition, Pat was crowned the Queen of Football and received a personal cake as a prize

Residents spent ‘Cat day’ reminiscing about the pet cats which have passed through their lives, having a laugh at cat antics and chatting about ‘working’ cats encountered in the farmyards during evacuation during WW2. We also had a quiz to check our knowledge of cats and lesser known cat breeds, followed by a visit from ‘Delilah’ and ‘Onyx’ – Sphynx cats who kept us on our toes playing ‘hide and seek’. We adored having a play with them and feeling how warm they are despite not having the usual cat fur.

We were delighted to welcome ‘Gosling Raptors’ into our home on ‘Owl day’ and met Tropical Screech owl ‘Hades’ and Black Barn owl ‘Disk’. Residents had the opportunity to have a hold of these beautiful birds of prey and to learn about their lifestyles and personalities. Residents nursed in bed also got to meet these feathered friends and have a stroke of the soft feathers. Many residents really surprised themselves on overcoming any worries about touching or holding the owls and were very proud of overcoming any worries about doing this.

The grand finale of the visit was the Eagle Owl whose awesome power was very evident on just one flap of wings which sent allsorts flying.

Residents across our services had a fantastic time joining Mandy Morrow for a virtual walking tour to learn about the ‘Herstory’ of Mayfair. The Mayfair of Nightingales may be long gone but it still holds a 20th century charm. Birthplace to the late Queen Elizabeth II, home to one of WWII's most decorated female war heroes and a tale of a wealthy Aristocrat and one of France's favourite designers.

We were delighted to take a walk down memory lane and discover stories from one of London's most iconic areas.  The experience was truly enjoyed by all.

We had a great couple of ‘away’ days across the Atlantic, first in Canada with a virtual tour around this vast country, wondering at the Lakes, Mountains and Islands as well as finding out about the very cute and cuddly looking wildlife – which apparently aren’t as cute and cuddly as they appear! The flora and Fauna we found absolutely astonishing. We immersed ourselves further into the culture with a lunch of Split Pea soup followed by pancakes with warm maple syrup drizzled on top. We then moved South into the great United States finding out about some of its iconic attractions and historic vehicles (good excuse to have a little ‘wander’ along Route 66). Again we sampled some local fayre with burgers and salad for lunch and we had a go at making some traditional milkshakes of our own from scratch. We squashed banana, grated chocolate, scooped out oooodles of ice cream and managed to produce Banana, Vanilla and Mocha shakes. We still haven’t decided which we like best.

Pride Day at South Chowdene was a culmination of crafts, discussions, learning and working together to make a ‘Rainbow’ out of shredded paper from whatever magazines and papers we could find throughout the month. As we sat and shredded, we chatted about Pride and how it has helped make change for the better throughout society. We had a lot of fun bringing all this together and having a colourful ‘Pom Dance’ session using music composed or sung by LGBTQ+ artists to work up an appetite for the delicious Rainbow fairy cakes we made earlier in the morning. The afternoon session tested our knowledge of the learning we have completed with a special ‘Pride Bingo’.