Activities at Upton Bay Care Home
Activities are an integral part of life at our care home. We want to ensure that the people we support have as much fun as possible during their time with us, so it’s important that our activities programme is created with the interests of residents in mind. Our skilled Activities Coordinators bring a certain uniqueness to the home that can’t be found anywhere else, and which is reflected in the activities they organise.
Karen Grant
I first worked in the care sector in 2010, starting in domiciliary care and progressing to Care Coordinator. I have since gained a wealth of experience in dedicated dementia and residential activities, working as a peripatetic activities coordinator in 16 out of 20 homes within a group, and then in 2018, I was part of a team that commissioned a new luxury care home, where I was an Activities Team Leader.
I enjoy making wishes come true for residents: in February 2015, I organised my first wedding in a care home. The lady resident who was living with dementia was unable to travel to Hertfordshire for her granddaughters wedding, so I brought the wedding to her. I organised a wedding blessing at the home; we had a vicar, a choir, all of the bridal party, the flowers, a buffet, a wedding cake, champagne—the full works.
In 2017, I organised a smaller wedding in the garden, and this was a special wish for a gentleman resident to see his granddaughter married. Organising these special moments gives me a lot of pleasure, knowing I have made them feel special and to give families that happiness and see them smile.
I cannot wait to welcome our residents into their wonderful new home and help to bring smiles, joy and laughter to each day.
Karen is also one of our dementia champions
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 Upton Bay Care Home
Following the Breadcrumb Trail to our Gingerbread House...
Like Hansel and Gretel, our residents were enticed by the sweet treats adorning their gingerbread houses this week! Inspiring their imaginations, we delved in to all of our favourite candies to decorate the most scrumptious looking gingerbread houses, to enter the #BarchesterGingerbreadHouse Competition!
Our ladies and gent's did a marvelous job of creating not one, but two delicious houses to complete their winter village scene, finessed with twinkly lights and Rudolph upon each rooftop.
I Heard Bells on Christmas Day...
What’s your favourite way to feel festive?
Hand-bells… Around the Christmas Tree… Playing Walking in the Air
We spent the evening enchanted by the whimsical chimes of Clapper Chaos, award winning Hand-Bell ringing quartet. Playing over 60 bells and chimes at a time, the talented musicians harmonised their instruments to the tunes of all of our favourite yuletide songs, following music scores they had written themselves.
In awe of their skills, our audience had a chance to ask questions about the craft of bell-making, and the origins of the instrument, dating back hundreds of years and the first recorded use of hand bells for music stemming from our nearby county of Wiltshire.
“Listening to my most-loved song from The Snowman made it truly feel like Christmas” commented Michael. And we couldn’t agree more – the melodies we heard embodied the magic of Christmas!
Thank you Clapper Chaos for sharing your craft with us
Santa's Grotto Delights at Upton Bay
Upton Bay was filled with the magic of Christmas this weekend, thanks to a very special visit from Old Saint Nick! Cosied up in his garden grotto, Santa delighted kids (never too big to sit on his knee) with a Christmas wish and presents for all
We danced along to our festive favourites sing by the wonderful Vici, and warmed our mitts on hot chocolates and gingerbread men in true Yuletide fashion
With MrsClaus and his helpful elves by his side, Father Christmas spread enough cheer to see us through til the 25th
Stepping Out this Christmas! 🪩
To end our week on a high, the Upton Bay minibus dropped us at the Stepping Out Tea Dance in Broadstone, where we danced the afternoon away to all the Yuletide classics!
Our ladies and gents waltzed, tangoed, quick stepped and hand jived! We were astounded by how much rhythm and knowledge of the intricacies of each dance our residents had. Denise recalled learning the steps as a young girl, and showed our team a thing or two about the waltz in particular!
Dancing is an incredible tool for tapping into memories and retaining mobility, agility and coordination. We look forward to becoming regular attendees of our local tea dance, an excellent opportunity to meet with our local community and have fun!
Little Angels to Top our Trees
On day 2 of our countdown to Christmas, Upton Bay had some special visitors, from our friends at Muddy Boots Nursery!
The tiny tots wowed us all with their super Christmas jingles, which our ladies and gents just adored. Leading us through the story of the Nativity, the little ones belted out in their best voices, so that we could sing along too. And much to the children’s delight, Santa’s helpers stopped by with some tasty homemade shortbreads to top off the morning
Hark the Herald Angels Sing!
Tonight we were treated to the most wonderful performance from Ferndown Phoenix Musical-society, delighting us with a selection of Christmas tunes! Showcasing beautiful harmonies, rich baritones and angelic sopranos, our residents, families and guests sung along to the much loved festive classics, which really got us in the mood for some December merriment!
We'd like to say a huge thank you to the very talented Ferndown Phoenix, and look forward to enjoying more of their performances throughout the new year.
Upcoming events
Knit and Knatter - weekly group
Open to the community. This fun, social group meet every Thursday 10.30-12.00 to knit and chat. Refreshments included
Christmas Fair - Saturday 7th December
Join us for a fun, Christmas event with a variety of stalls including candles, cards, gifts for all your family and friends. Join santa in his grotto
