Activities at Tennyson Wharf Care Home

Nicola Hodson, carer, has been crowned Carer of the Year for the NE & Scotland Division in the Barchester Care Awards 2025 and is through to the national round of judging.

The Barchester Care Awards celebrate the staff who go the extra mile for the benefit of the 13,500 residents living in Barchester’s 267 care homes and private hospitals across the country. Categories range from ‘Registered Nurse of the Year’ and ‘Carer of the Year’ to ‘Dementia Care Champion’ and ‘Activities Coordinator of the Year’.

Over 5,000 nominations were received from homes and hospitals across the UK. All entries were a very high standard and Nicola is over the moon to have been named the winner for the North East & Scotland Division, beating hundreds of other nominees.
 

We believe that Tennyson Wharf has the best carers! We wanted to show how much we care for and appreciate them and celebrate in style.  

Residents took part in activities to make truffles and coconut ice as sweet treats and also a flower-arranging afternoon to present posies to the carers. Families and residents were asked to write notes of support and thanks to the carers. Residents wrote statements such as “my life would be so hard without you.”  

“You have supported me through the toughest time in my life.” And “Thank you for waking me with a cup of tea every morning.” Family members said “My Mum now smiles again, and I no longer have to worry about her, I know she is safe and well looked after.” Also, “Tennyson Wharf a place where my Mum is treated with dignity and respect.” 

We had the amazing opportunity to have Circus Extreme come and visit Tennyson Wharf and talk about life on the road. Residents were fascinated and asked many questions that Marnie Dock, Tour Manager and former acrobat, answered. She also introduced Eddie the clown, Maddie an extreme roller skate artist, Jamhil from the motorbike display team, a few trampoline artists and also a member of the first Mongolian State Circus to visit the UK in the 1980’s.  

We were blown away by the kindness of the circus when they invited us as their guest to see a performance.  We had front row seats and loved every minute of the show.  Hilary, our resident, could not believe that all the stunts were performed without a safety net! Everyone had a wonderful evening. 

Residents celebrated National Carers’ Week, which takes place from June 9-15. Residents wanted to thank all the wonderful staff at the home, whose hard work and dedication make a real difference to the lives of those living in their care. 

Staff were treated to truffles, sweets and posies of flowers made by the residents and gift boxes of Cadbury’s chocolates provided by Barchester Healthcare. Residents also gave thanks by writing letters and cards of support and thoughtful words of gratitude.   

Sarah Noutch, General Manager said: “It is so wonderful to be able to celebrate Carers Week and thank our fantastic carers with a summer party in our garden, and to be able to welcome the community, relatives and friends. Everyone has had such a brilliant day.”
 

We were so pleased to be able to make new friends with the reception class of Burton Hathow Preparatory School. The children came to visit us for a ‘getting to know you’ meeting where we played games, took a walk in the garden to play eyespy and then had snacks and drinks. It was a wonderful first meeting with many more planned. 

Our residents were so delighted with the interactions. Many of our residents were teachers and this brought back wonderful memories for them.  Some of our residents do not have families that live close by so seeing the little children reminds them of their own grandchildren. Lesley, one of our residents, said “it was a fab morning, to see their little happy faces. Children are so innocent.” We are grateful for these interactions that create new memories for our residents. 

As part of our VE Day Celebrations with a trip to the International Bomber Command Centre to see the beautiful ceramic poppies. A few of our residents had not been before and others not for a long time. They were impressed with the poppy installation and the displays of information and silhouettes of women who served in the war. The information was presented in a sensitive manner that conveyed the sacrifice of those brave men and women. It was hard not to shed a tear.

Our resident, Hilary, found the name of her Uncle amongst those that lost their lives. It was a moving moment. Hilary was immensely proud that her name and life had been honoured. 

We were able to reminisce and share memories with the children of Burton Hathow Preparatory School as residents visited the school to show uniforms, artefacts and tell stories of their broken education in shelters and evacuation experiences. Peter, our Resident Representative, told the pupils how happy our friendship with the school makes our residents and that they bring us a lot of joy.

So much fun was had with our VE Day entertainer, Eleanor, where we welcomed the children to our home. We sang, danced, waved flags and listened to the speech made by Winston Churchill. One of our residents, June, described the moment as the 'best entertainment ever!' All were delighted to see the children having such a good time. 

We rounded off VE Day with an afternoon tea and prosecco. It has been a wonderful week with just the right amount of enjoyment and reflection.

Tennyson Wharf held a fabulous party to celebrate 10 years of serving the local community.   Staff, residents and guests commemorated this special occasion with entertainment from the amazing Abbamia, a delicious buffet and cake provided by our chefs, Dawn and Deepu, and visits from Sir Edward Lee MP for Gainsborough, Mayor Allan Briggs and High Sheriff Philip Dymoke.

Tennyson Wharf has built up an excellent reputation within its local communities. The home regularly holds events and activities for its residents and surrounding neighbours.  Tennyson Wharf is a modern purpose-built facility set in a stunning location overlooking the Burton Waters marina.
 

Competitive spirit kicked in with our team coordination challenges! We did not know our residents were so competitive until we brought out forks, some plastic cups and newspaper! Our residents formed into two teams that then had to complete a series of challenges.

First they had a set of plastic cups that had to be transferred from one person to the next by scooping it off a fork. The winners were the team that sent all of the cups down the line to the end and then back again. Great for hand-eye coordination and communication.

Our second challenge was the TikTok viral newspaper shuffle. Newspaper pages are taped together and then lined in front of a person sitting in a chair. They have to step or peddle their feet as fast as they can to shuffle the newspaper to them. It's harder than it looks and certainly works the core muscles and legs.  The third challenge saw our residents back with plastic cups trying to place all the cups in their bowl into the opponent's bowl. Sounds easy? Not so much when you have to use a long pole and not your hands. Another great manual dexterity challenge.