Activities at St Thomas Care Home

Jessie is our oldest resident in the home she will be turning 100 this year. Jessie has three children two boys and one girl. Jessie’s children don’t live local to the home Johnathan lives in the isle of Wight, Richard and Cheryl both live in France. Jessie doesn’t get to see her children all that often so we spoke to Jessie and said that we would do video calls with her children. Jessie is happy to do this as she gets to see her children from afar Jessie also gets to see her grandsons and her son and daughter take Jessie for virtual tour around their homes and show her their cats and dog. Jessie is always amazed that she can see her family from so far away by using a tablet. Jessie is also looking forward to seeing her granddaughter get married. Jessie will not be able to attend in person but the family have arranged for Jessie to see the whole wedding right from the comfort of her bedroom.

One of our lovely residents called Charlie is a big fan of horses, Charlie used to live on a farm and raised many horse’s and other animals. Charlies big passion is horse’s, he really enjoys watching horse racing, horse shows  and looking at old photos of his horses and daughter when they used to take them to shows. Charlie’s family live in Scotland and send him horse and hound magazines every month. Charlie really enjoys getting these magazines and on this one occasion he was really excited that he had to show one of his friends Margaret the magazine. Margaret showed a lot of interest with Charlie and the magazine. They sat and looked though every page with Charlie telling Margaret what breed the horse was and that Charlie himself used to race and show horse’s with his family.

John is new to St Thomas and has already started to make friends. John was worried and scared about being at St Thomas he knew nobody and it was all strange to him. The activities team got John to join in with the arts and craft session where he met a new friend called Jennifer. Jennifer and John sat and spoke or a long time Jennifer had John laughing, smiling and relaxing. John was telling Jennifer about is wife and Jennifer was telling him about coming from Wales they chatted right up until supper time. The home manager Maggie got involved with talking to the John and Jennifer they all enjoyed talking to each other. It is the small things in life like a hello how are you. John went from being scared and worried to being happy, laughing and relaxing with the new friend he has just made.

Gerry has lived at St Thomas for a while and he would sometime decline to join in with activities in the home. Gerry would spend time in his room reading the newspaper or Gerry would sit in the corridor but wouldn’t join in with any activities. Gerry started to come out of his shell and he would join in with the things he enjoyed. We had asked Gerry if he would like to join bingo with us on many occasions Gerry declined. It wasn’t until one day we were asking all the residents if they would like to play bingo that Gerry decided he would give bingo a try. Gerry took to the game like a duck out of water e didn’t need any help he was able to play alone he was good at keeping up with all the numbers being called out. Gerry even won his first game and to say the least he was shocked that he had won. Gerry said he was surprised that he had one on his first try of bingo. It is safe to say that Gerry will be joining us again for bingo.

There is nothing better than spending a lovely Saturday afternoon in the garden. Although this Saturday afternoon was not your normal afternoon. It was St Thomas Summer Fete we had music bbq games and lots of fun and laughing. Summer fetes are a good thing to bring family and friends together. In this case we had Greta and her Daughter Estelle join us at the party of the year. Greta had come to St Thomas for two weeks respite and to spend time with her husband who also lives in the home. Greta and Estelle embraced us with their company for the summer party. Greta and Estelle sat and chatted to each other and also to other family members and residents while enjoying some lovely cocktails. Greta was really happy to be spending time in the garden with Estelle and the friends she has made in the home since coming to stay for two weeks. Greta really enjoyed the time she had at the party, Greta said that she hasn’t had that much fun in a long time. The party set such a good impression Greta decided to change from two week to become one of our permanent residents in the home. Greta always has a smile on her face and enjoys spending time with everyone I the home.

It is very important to make friends no matter where we are. Kay and Stephen have made a good friendship in the home. Kay and Stephen enjoy taking a weekly trip into town so they can do things they used to do. Kay likes to go into her favourite shop, Bonmarche, to buy new jeans and tops. Stephen comes into the shop and helps Kay pick out clothes. Stephen likes to look around the town centre to see which shops he would like to go in. Kay enjoys walking around town.

They both say it is nice to get out of the home and spend time doing things they don't get to do as much anymore. On this trip into town, Kay and Stephen both wanted a nice cup of coffee before they started looking around the shops. Both Kay and Stephen were shocked at how cheap the coffee was in Greggs. They both said that they would come back to Greggs again as the price was good and the coffee was very nice.