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
Glorious VE Day!
This Sunday, Upton Bay celebrated VE Day in style, with the help of the amazing Poole Sea Cadets Band!
Led by Band Master PO (SCC) Kevin Steele, the young Cadets, aged between 10 and 18 years, entertained with an afternoon of music from their impressive repertoire, featuring classic marching tunes and their own takes on favourites from the war years.
We were delighted to welcome good friend of the home, The Mayor Cllr Julie Bagwell, to enjoy this afternoon with our community. The Mayor is proud Patron of the Poole Sea Cadets, as well as holding title of Admiral of Poole Port, in respect of our town’s maritime history.
The Upton Bay Chefs impressed with a selection of homemade cakes, cookies, and of course, scones with lashings of jam and clotted cream! Plus copious amounts of refreshing Pimms to keep up cool in the beautiful sunshine!
Thank you again to Poole Sea Cadets for sharing your amazing talents with us!
Fiesta… then Siesta!
It’s Cinco de Mayo! The 5th May commemorates the anniversary of Mexico's victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862 – and it’s a ruddy good cause for knees up!
Latin music, nibbles, and mojito’s a-plenty is how we celebrated the occasion, as well as learning a little more about the vibrant culture of Mexico.
We were pleased to be back out on the terrace today, now that the warm summer sun is starting to make the odd appearance.
¡Ándale, Mexico!
International Firefighters Day!
Today, we said a big Upton Bay Thank you to our local firefighters at Poole Fire Station for all their fantastic work keeping our community safe.
We hopped in the minibus and took a leisurely cruise down to Safety Drive, home of the big engines! Our residents were chuffed to deliver a batch of freshly baked cakes, specially topped with 'fiery' buttercream- even the toughest fireman can’t say no to a cupcake!
The firemen kindly gave us a tour of the amazing vehicles and depot before their next callout, which our gents loved. Thank you for having us!
How Many Easter Eggs?!
We have a question: how late is too late to still be eating Easter Eggs?!
Life at Upton Bay is social and vibrant; we topped off the Bank Holiday Weekend with a very musical breakfast club, a huge luncheon with all of our lovely residents sharing a beautiful meal together, and an afternoon of tap dancing! Activity Lead Karen got us all up and moving with her hot steppin'!
Now to sneak a few more chocolate eggs before dinner..!
Upton Bay’s Big Easter Egg Hunt!
Wishing our community a very Happy Easter!
We were delighted to hop into Easter with a marvellous egg hunt, complete with lots of very happy children searching high and low for no less that 105 tasty treats all around our gardens!
Our residents enjoyed basking in the sunshine all afternoon, amused by the kids and our very own Easter Bunny
A lovely end to a sunny bank holiday
A Walk Through a Landscape
This week, our residents took a scenic stroll through one of the most famous landscape paintings of The Wallace Collection.
Holly and Marie-Therese of Hertford House gave us an amazing tour of the many treasures in the collection, as well as guiding us through a sensory exploration of The Rainbow Landscape, by Peter Paul Rubens.
Among the Collection’s treasures are an outstanding array of eighteenth-century French art, medieval and Renaissance works of art and one of the finest collections of princely arms and armour in Britain.
“It was interesting to see how many individual components make up a work of art, each with their own character,” commented resident Michael, who is also a keen painter himself.
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
