Activities at Strachan House Care Home

A carer at Strachan House in Edinburgh has received a prestigious 15 Year Service Award in celebration of working at Barchester Healthcare for 15 years.

Lyra Quintanilla, now carer, started at Barchester in May 2006 and has worked with residents and their relatives to ensure that their needs have been met over the years.

Staff and residents at Barchester’s Strachan House care home in were treated to an interactive virtual floristry masterclass courtesy of Master Florist, Michal Kowalski, from Blooming Haus. 

Blooming Haus started with a small pop-up shop in Chelsea.  They have since blossomed spectacularly on to the floristry scene as ‘floral engineers’, carving themselves an outstanding reputation as one of the UK’s most innovative floral design studios.

Here at Strachan House we were pleased to be able to dive into the wild safari life of Knowsley Safari and to enjoy an amazing live stream tour of the park’s grounds.

Our residents were smiling and laughing as they got up close and personal with some of the safari’s most popular animals, including giraffes and meerkats.

We had a wonderful time learning more about the animals and enjoying some live feeding demonstrations. 

Staff and residents at Barchester’s Strachan House care home in Edinburgh were treated to an armchair work out courtesy of the Green Goddess, Diana Moran, and Shackleton’s furniture company, followed by a mindfulness session led by Shackleton’s Emma Raybould.

Diana rose to fame as a glamorous fitness guru on BBC’s Breakfast Time in the 1980’s and has made an outstanding contribution to improving the health and wellbeing of people in the UK. She now brings that experience to Shackletons as their Health and Wellness Adviser.

To celebrate National Vegetarian Week, staff and residents at Barchester’s Strachan House care home in Edinburgh were treated to an interactive virtual cookery demo courtesy of chef, Alex Connell, from Vegetarian for Life.

Chef Alex whipped up some tasty, healthy vegetarian snacks in a live, interactive cookery demo.  Much to residents’ delight, Strachan House head chef had prepared the same recipes so that residents could try all the dishes. Residents sampled delicious, light and summery veggie dishes including Borlotti bean and dill pate, Greek fritters with Tzatziki and Coronation 'chicken' pastries. All finished off with a sweet and simple but totally yummy banana bread.

Coinciding with the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, International Nurses Day, held on Wednesday 12th May, is a day to celebrate nurses and care staff around the world. Residents and staff at Strachan House care home in Edinburgh, were happy to get involved by hosting a much deserved certificate of appreciation and a nice afternoon tea.

In 2021, the World Health Organisation is seeking to highlight the ways in which nurses are innovating and to explore what the future of nursing could look like. This year, more than ever, we are hugely indebted to all our care staff, and we are incredibly proud to applaud their extraordinary efforts and commitment, on this special day of recognition.  International Nurses’ Day is a day to give thanks for the dedication of care givers everywhere, who go above and beyond the call of duty to deliver extraordinary care and support.