Activities at Tennyson Wharf Care Home

A truly wonderful occasion as Connie watched her first ‘Imps’ game since her first visit in 1949! Polly, our chef, had worked with Fan Liaison Manager Allan to give Connie a VIP visit. Connie was dressed head to toe in team colours with streamers on her wheelchair! We sat right next to the goal, the match was electric with a final victory score of 2-1! The icing on the cake was a meet and greet with left back, 

Adam Reach and the Imp team mascot. Connie took it all in her stride and was so grateful for the experience saying it was an experience she will not forget. Other residents were so delighted for Connie and enjoyed trying to spot her on the television with the televised match.     

Resident, Connie had wanted to be able to attend a Lincoln City Football team match, so staff at the home made her wish a reality proving the old adage, it’s never too late even at 95 years old!

Connie has lived at Tennyson Wharf for two years and is beloved by staff and residents alike for her sense of humour.  Staff at the home were delighted to be a part of making her dream come true, as they knew how much it meant to Connie, and they all wanted to be there to see the smile on her face when her dream was realised.

Staff have long known of Connie’s love of Lincoln City Football team and wanted to surprise her with a trip to the stadium. Connie was also accompanied by Chef Polly who is a Lincoln City super fan and arrange the trip with the help of Alan, Lincoln City Fan Liaison Officer, both were there to witness this momentous occasion.

We held a wonderful celebration looking at women’s achievements in the world, from science and maths discoveries, acts of heroinism, pioneering inventions and everyday successes. We had a special guest speaker in Lincolnshire County Council member Brenda Collier. She so kindly brought each woman a rose to symbolise beauty, strength and individuality. 

She shared stories from her life and her service in her current role. Our ladies were fascinated. The afternoon was spent watching the film ‘Hidden Figures’ about the women behind the calculations that put a US rocket in space in the 1950s. Everyone decided it was an engaging and thought-provoking film.  

We had the most fun when Lincoln Minster School joined in our International Lego Day celebrations. We started our afternoon with a few fun facts. Did you know Lego comes from the Danish word meaning 'Play Well' or that, if put end to end, the number of Lego bricks sold each year would stretch 5 times around the world?!

Then the competition began! Teams were tasked with building the tallest towers and various animals. The winners in each category received yummy chocolates. 

It was a truly great afternoon with a lovely new friendship.     

Haggis and Bagpipes galore to commemorate Burns Night. Finlay MacGhee, Pipe Major with the Royal Airforce, performed the address to the Haggis, gave a fascinating talk on the history of the bagpipes and tartan, his travel adventures with the RAF and his meeting with Queen Elizabeth 2nd.  Residents enjoyed traditional Scottish fare including haggis, neeps and tatties, of course, prepared by our fabulous head chef, Dawn Bailey. 

The afternoon was spent engrossed in a whisky tasting class prepared by Karen Holmes from our Administration department.  Our residents loved every minute of the day, with June saying ‘It's been a really wonderful day, so interesting.’

We did it! We Won! 

Residents were delighted to discover that they had won the annual Barchester Easter Cake Decorating competition for the North East and Scottish region. Activities member Joan and resident Brian worked hard to create a design that would be effective and allow many residents to take part with the decorating.  

It was a fun afternoon creating carrots and rabbits out of fondant and Brian was excited to be able to reprise his hobby of cake decorating by piping the ‘grass’. Our residents are looking forward to spending their £50 prize gift voucher. 

It’s that time of year again, the Barchester Easter Cake decorating competition. We spent a little while planning the design with the help of resident, Brian, who is a bit of an expert when it comes to baking.  

It was a lot of fun and not too much chocolate was stolen for taste tests along the way! We really hope that this could be our year to win.   

We celebrated the Chinese Luna New Year of the Horse with this greeting. Used to wish a Happy New Year. It literally means wishing you wealth and affluence! We learnt about the history of the celebrations and how the animals of the Chinese zodiac were chosen and tried to guess each other's signs. We opened fortune cookies hoping they would come true.

Following the tradition of letting off fireworks, we made our own paper fireworks with our own whoosh and bang sound effects! 
Hilary shared stories with us of her visit to China. She said the Great Wall had parts that were steeper than Steep Hill! Emme, our volunteer, shared photos of a recent business trip her father had taken to China just last week.

It was a lovely day finished off with a delicious menu prepared by our chef Emma. She had even taken the time to print the menu with Cantonese and Mandarin symbols, names and pronunciations. Residents enjoyed noodle soup, orange chicken and mango pudding. 

Tennyson Wharf regularly welcomes Darwen the Falabella therapy pony to the home. This last visit was made even more special as Darwen accompanied his younger brother, Faberge, for his very first therapy visits to a care home.

Both ponies are owned and rigorously trained by Brenda Depear who is a licensed substance abuse and rehabilitation counsellor who also specializes in traumatic brain injuries and Dementia care. The ponies provide comfort and support to all of her clients and love visiting care homes.

We had a brilliant afternoon when Owl Adventures visited us. Francesca brought a barn owl, little owl and hawk for our residents to learn about. There were many questions and much excitement. 

June was surprised at how soft the birds were and Sue commented on how light they were when sitting on her arm. It was fascinating learning about these glorious birds and not something you experience every day! 

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." George Bernard Shaw.

We took the challenge seriously and had a day of imagination! We started with a bit of a serious side, looking into our imagination, as most people think we lose our imagination as we age. The opposite is actually the truth. Children are less constrained in their imagination, but adults bring experience and emotion to imaginative situations. We looked at lateral thinking to broaden our horizons, then the play commenced!

Charades and a box of tricks! Residents were given random items to create their own activities. You could see the cogs turning in their heads as they came up with ideas. There was a lot of laughter as we tried to build towers, shoot balls from a soft beach ball, play keepie-uppies with balloons and other fun scenarios. Later in the month we have an imaginative day of junk modelling that we are all looking forward to.      

A day of cheeky Leprechaun fun! We enjoyed laughing at each other’s Leprechaun names, learning new facts and playing a game of guessing the number of gold coins in the pot of gold! There was even a spot of baking with a chocolate Guinness cake. 

The highlight was a riotous song and dance session with one of our favourite singers, Jules. Traditional Irish songs and some of our favourite medleys got us all up on the dance floor. Our chefs pulled out all the stops for a slap-up Irish-themed menu with a tipple of Guinness and Bailey’s Irish cream.  

Darwen proved to be the best big brother when he showed Faberge the ropes! It was Faberge's first ever home visit after several years of training from the fabulous Brenda. He was very well-behaved, Darwen kept a close eye on him and showed him exactly what to do. 

Our residents fell in love instantly and could not believe we were lucky enough to have two gorgeous falabellas visit us. Thank you so much Brenda for bringing so much joy and comfort to our home. We really do appreciate how much training and grooming you do. Darwen and Faberge are always so well-behaved and have fresh hair dos and shoes!     

Our home was filled with flowers, cards and sweets in celebration of St Valentine’s Day.    Staff and residents celebrated the day of love by showing love and kindness to their carers with handmade chocolate truffles and heart decorations. They held a practical ‘Heart Healthy’ presentation giving residents handy hints for better sleep, reducing stress and gentle exercises. Residents were excited to play a special edition of Valentine’s bingo, raised £70 in a raffle and finally enjoyed a medley of love songs performed by Clearer Productions.

June, a resident 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 enjoyed the raffle and bingo, I won two prizes! 

Keith celebrated his 100th birthday in style with a party attended by 4 generations of his family and friends that travelled from far and wide.  His daughter, Hilary, made a wonderful ‘This is your life’ video presentation and later gave an oboe recital accompanied by her grandson, Fred, on the piano. 

Receiving a card from the King and Queen was the icing on the cake! Asked what his secret to life was, Keith responded that he did not have a secret but just kept on going.