Activities at Strachan House Care Home

Louise, a resident here at Strachan House, had always dreamed of being back in the saddle and riding a horse, so, staff at the home made her wish a reality with their Gone Fishing 23 project. Louise was an avid rider and owned her own horse. A passion she dearly misses along with her horse.

Louise has lived at Strachan House for 2 years and is loved by staff and residents alike. She has a role within the home as the Resident Ambassador so staff really wanted to make her meaningful moment come true for her. Mandy Burgen Head of Activities said “we really knew how much it meant to her to have this opportunity to take up the reins again so we jumped into action and made a few calls to Tower Farm Riding School.

Tower Farm is a local riding school that caters for levels of riding. Debbie, the owner, was more than happy to help lend a helping hand. They provided all the safety wear and a beautiful grey horse called Monarch. “The staff were wonderful and assisted on the day with ensuring Louise had the most incredible experience. We are very grateful for their help and support in our project”.

Staff first found out about Louise’s dream last year through chats and her collections of photos of her with her horses and, ever since then, they have been dedicated to helping her achieve her dream. Louise was also accompanied by staff from Strachan House who were there in support of this momentous occasion.

In response to this wonderful surprise, Louise said: “I was on the verge of tears. It is such an amazing feeling to be with horses and the smell and touch of a horse just brought everything flooding back.Im so humbled that group of people care so much about me that they helped me to live out a dream. What an amazing surprise“

Strachan House decided to celebrate the Brazilian festival with a carnival party of their own. Residents, their relatives and staff all got involved with the spirit of Rio Des Carnival by learning some new dance moves to some authentic samba beats. The day was dedicated to everything colourful and the dancing never stopped all day.

General Manager at Strachan House care home, said: “This has been a huge amount of fun and our residents really got in the party celebrations with all the samba music and dancing. Melanie from Face Painting by Melanie based in Edinburgh who kindly offered to create beautiful works of art of our residents faces just made their day. They were delighted”

Margaret Wilson, a resident at our home said: “I really enjoyed making the head dresses and Melanie was such an amazing artist. Watching her face painting skills was incredible and to have my face painted too made we want to go to a real Brazilian Carnival to show it off“

Strachan House was filled with flowers, cards and sweets in celebration of St Valentine’s Day.  

Staff, residents and guests celebrated the day of love with reminiscing old acquaintances, a themed evening meal and live music throughout the day. In the evening the doors to Strachan House were open to anyone who wanted to come along and enjoy our evening entertainment with Diane Fields who starred in Britain’s Got Talent. With plenty of bubbly and valentine cupcakes freshly prepared by Stevie the chef it was a fantastic night full of love and laughter.

Marion Cooper a resident at Strachan House said: “It has been a lovely day. It was wonderful to see everyone go to so much effort to get involved with the day’s festivities. I really liked listening to all their romantic memories they shared”

Ian and Villy White a couple at the home celebrated with a candlelit meal together.

On the run up to Valentine’s Day we decided to open our very own Strachan House Snuggle Shack.

If our residents, staff and family feel they need a hug they only need to head to our Snuggle Shack. What’s more every hug is free and you can have as many as you like.

National Pizza Day has been a real treat at Strachan House in Edinburgh, where staff and residents marked the occasion by getting out their aprons and kneading the dough to make home-made pizzas for the occasion.  The day was a celebration of all things pizza-related, and was the perfect excuse to get staff, residents and the local nursery together for some pizza making and taste sessions.  Cargilfield Nursery based at Cramond in Edinburgh are weekly visitors to the home and love sharing some intergenerational fun with their friends they have made at Strachan House.  

Many residents at Strachan House personalised their own pizzas with a selection of common and not so common variations of toppings .Some healthy and some more of a sweet indulgence.

Resident a Marion Cooper, at Strachan House is a big Harry Potter fan and she dreamed of watching the very first movie again on the big screen. So staff at the home made her wish a reality. Mandy Head of Activities said” Our Gone Fishing 23 project is all about moments like this. We dressed the room as though she was walking into the world of Harry Potter complete with props and homemade butter beer to enjoy “

Marion Cooper has lived at Strachan House for little under a year and is beloved by staff and residents alike. Staff at the home were delighted to be a part of making her dream come true, as they knew how much it meant to her and they all wanted to be there to see the smile on Marion’s face.