Activities at Tixover House Care Home

Our resident worked for British Rail and has always had a keen interest in the railways. We spent the morning exploring Railworld. A huge thank you to the volunteers and for your kindness on the day in donating train postcards to our resident for their birthday tomorrow. 

We enjoyed hot drinks and cakes seated at a picnic table. To top off our visit and to bring it full circle, we met the Station Master, who kindly spent time speaking with our resident and listening to their history surrounding the topic and who also kindly gave a donation, this time of railway-themed literature. These items will be added to our residents' Memory Box. Tomorrow our resident will be enjoying their birthday in the home, with a person-centred gift and, of course, more cake! 

We picked up a crochet item too (tagged into this post)(hopefully we can thank the right person!), this we took back with us and gifted to one of our residents (photo included). Please continue to add your loved one’s wishes to our wish tree in reception as we are delivering them. Lastly, a huge thank you to our Dementia Champion, Kathy, for supporting this trip. It has been a most wonderful morning for all involved, and we couldn’t have done it without your time and dedication to our residents having their wishes fulfilled. Thank you to Senior Carer Radhika for covering care this morning in the home so that I could borrow an extra pair of hands, hugely appreciated. In our residents' words, “It has been a very nice time. I enjoyed the information from the Station Master. I am very happy with today’s visit.”

Our resident's family put a wish on our wish tree, and we delivered upon that wish today. Asking for a table, compost and seeds for their mum to pursue her interest in gardening in our outdoor courtyard. 

I have kept an eye out for a potting table for a while but instead just decided not to wait and upcycled a shelving unit to declutter the garage. Thank you to my neighbours for supplying extra wood and stain and also for pots and flowers from their garden. A few hours of graft in the sunshine (a pleasant occasion) and here we have it: Our residents have a potting table to promote independence in gardening. 

Gardening Club this morning spent potting the flowers and organising on our wall in our courtyard. This is going to be a great space for the spring and will enhance our Gardening Club and the overall experience of our residents spending time in one of our courtyard gardens.

Huge thank you to Stamford Bridge Club who are supporting our residents with, where possible, regular visits. 

This will enable our residents to maintain existing links with clubs in the community and to continue to pursue their interests. Afraid I wasn't up to much when it came to Bridge, it is good for our residents to be around those with like-minded interests and of a standard to have healthy competition.

Just look at the smile and happiness of our residents! Once again, a massive thank you to Stamford Bridge Club. Your kindness is gratefully received.

A resident who served in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment had his wish come true when he was supported to visit King’s Cliffe Airfield Museum.  During the visit, Michael was presented with a piece written by a local gentleman who served alongside him entitled: “Task force to retake the Falkland Islands 1982”.

Michael served at Wittering between 1980 and 1988, before he retired. At Wittering, he worked in the EOD bomb disposal unit and was also a tank driving instructor. In 1982 when the UK was at conflict with Argentina over the Falklands, Michael was part of the Task Force that was deployed there. He was based in the Falklands throughout the conflict. Michael trained for EOD 1971 while serving in Kinloss in Scotland between 1968 and 1978, then then he served in Cyprus between 1978 and 1980. He also served in Germany, Malaya, Singapore, Iceland and USA.  As an armourer, Michael created numerous weapon designs. 
 

A huge thank you to Magical Minis, Loveable Miniature Donkeys for bringing your beautiful donkeys to our home this afternoon. 

Lots of residents took walks outside to spend time close up with the donkeys, whilst our garden lounge was full to the brim with residents wishing to be part of the event but warmer!

We cannot wait to see these donkeys again. In the springtime there is an event whereby you have afternoon tea whilst the donkeys walk amongst the tables. Many of our residents expressed an interest in hearing more about this activity.

We had a lovely afternoon with Emily being pampered, joined by our loved ones. 

We enjoyed massages, facials and hand and nail care. We had the added treat of rose flowers and chocs, nibbles and g&ts! We always love it when Emily visits our home, and it leaves everyone feeling relaxed and refreshed. 

We can’t wait to make more bookings with Emily over the coming months, for our residents, their family and friends, our staff and visitors to the home. Everyone deserves to have a moment within their day whereby they are cared for and come away feeling lighter.