Activities at The Fernes Care Home
At The Fernes we endeavour to make our care as personal as possible, including when it comes to activities. We will give you a 'Getting to Know Me' booklet for you to fill out with your loved one before they arrive, which includes a little life history and a tick sheet for a vast amount of activities. This enables us to offer the activities we know they will enjoy and enables us to learn valuable information about their lives and what might stimulate them in conversations and trips.
Our specialist Activities and Lifestyle staff make sure there are always meaningful activities to take part in, such as helping in the garden, baking some bread to have with our dinner, and trips out to various locations nearby such as the beach and the garden centres. Residents are encouraged to take part, but it is always the resident’s choice to participate or not as we believe that having choice is very important to help our residents feel in control of their lives. There are activities on offer every day (and night for those night owls) in the form of word puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, arts and crafts, needle crafts and board games to name a few. We have entertainment that is organised at least twice a month such as Music for Health, Zoolab or musicians, and also have a wonderful Yoga instructor who comes every other week.
Activities are provided by everyone in our home from carers and specialised activities staff, right through to our admin team. If there is a task that needs doing and a resident would like to do it, such as sealing envelopes and putting stamps on or handing out popcorn for our Movie Mondays, they are very welcome to help out which enables us to give them a better feeling of purpose and self-worth.
We are a registered member of the National Activity Providers Association (NAPA), which means that we are always working to make the quality of life of all of our residents as high as possible by working with person-centred activities that aim to stimulate our residents, both mentally and physically.
Sophie Wasteney
Hi, I'm Sophie, I am the Activities Lead at The Fernes. I've worked in the care sector for 26 years and here at The Fernes for 3 of those. When I started here I worked in care so really got to know the residents, relatives and home very well. When the Activities Lead role arose I naturally jumped at the opportunity as it was one aspect of care I really wanted to do as I really enjoy making people happy. As you cannot put a price on a smile!
Read our brochure 'Life-enriching activities' for more information about life in our care homes.
Read our brochure
Activities and Events Partnerships
As part of our bespoke life-enrichment programmes, we host a number of live virtual events in the home on a regular basis through a number of partnerships with places of interest and world class performance companies
Life at The Fernes Care Home
The Lights are On!
The Fernes have got their first Christmas tree decorated and lights were officially turned on, on Saturday 3rd December during our Christmas Fayre. The Christmas Fayre was a huge success, with residents and their families and visitors from the local area attending. We had stalls with some great gift ideas, crafts and cakes.
Orchard Lea School Choir Delights Residents with a Carol Service
Nothing beats carols at Christmas time, and there’s nothing quite like carols being sung by children, with their soft, angelic voices hitting each note and putting us all into the festive spirit! We at The Fernes were lucky enough to have Orchard Lea Junior School come into our home and carry out a carol service for residents, singing classics like Silent Night and Little Town of Bethlehem. We also enjoyed others, such as Frosty the Snowman, and they finished off with We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Residents thoroughly enjoyed it, singing along to the ones they loved most and giving the children plentiful rounds of applause. Thank you to Orchard Lea School for making this possible and we hope to see you again soon! For more information about Christmas activities, please pop in or call.
The Fernes pay respect to the Fleet Air Arms
On Remembrance Sunday, The Fernes attended a remembrance service at the Lee-on-Solent Fleet Air Arms monument, to pay respect, in particular, to two air men who gave their lives to save a ship that had one of our resident's husband, Geoffrey Halnan, on board, who amazingly was able to document the whole incident.
Residents enjoy a week of musical entertainment
This week has been a very musical one to say the least! On Friday 11th November, we had David in to play his keyboard, which residents adored. We played a little before our 2 minutes silence, and then for an hour and a half after, with all the residents joining in singing, swaying and laughing together - it was such a joy to see. We all had our poppies on, and all residents, staff and visitors – including Toby the Yorkie dog – paid their respects. Afterwards, David played all the old songs we know and love and we can’t wait to have him in for Christmas.
On Monday 14th November, residents were delighted with another singalong - this time it was with the Lawry Larks Choir from Lee-on-Solent. They performed in our dining room, and all the residents sang along with lyric sheets, enjoying every minute of it. We hope to see these lovely ladies again in the new year.
On Wednesday 16th November, residents got to enjoy a blast from the past with Rod Hack. Rod is a very talented musician who performs tracks from all across the 50s and 60s, including hits by Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley. All residents thoroughly enjoyed the singalong and dance, with each one getting up to have a jive at some point! We had classics such as Teenager in Love and Summer Holiday that helped us to remember our past and get back into our younger spirits. Needless to say, Rod will be back to entertain residents and visitors at our Christmas Craft Fayre on Decemeber 3rd from 1:30pm. We hope to see you there!
Marlene Celebrates Her Birthday with Local MP
Celebrations were in full swing at The Fernes, as resident, Marlene Long was joined by local MP, Suella Fernandes, for her birthday.
Marlene was the first person to move into the home when it opened in the summer and this was the first birthday party hosted at the new home. Her birthday was a very special occasion for everyone, especially as all the staff and residents at The Fernes love a good party!
The home was honoured to be joined by Suella Fernandes MP, who chatted to Marlene about how Fareham has changed over the years and what life was like at the Fernes.
The home’s Head Chef made a special cake for Marlene and, as she is a cat lover, it was fittingly decorated with a cat’s face in icing. Her guests and all her friends at The Fernes enjoyed afternoon tea.
100 Years - Still not Forgotten
Here at The Fernes, we are preparing for Remembrance Sunday and Armistice day. This year, we are taking part in the poppy appeal and I’m pleased to say that we have had a lot of donations for the Royal British Legion! Staff, residents and visitors are all welcome to make donations in exchange for pins, wristbands, stickers, keyrings and, of course, the original poppies. We are looking forward to heading to a local remembrance service on Sunday morning at Lee-on-The-Solent. If you would like more information about our trips or activities, please contact Kat, our lifestyle specialist.
