Activities at Upton Bay Care Home

Members of the Poole community joined residents and staff at local care home, Upton Bay, Hamworthy, for their Christmas Light Switch On celebration, marking the start of the home’s first Christmas.

Residents, families and guests gathered together in the gardens to witness the lighting up of Upton Bay’s outdoor festive decorations, including two Nordmann fir trees.

Following the countdown by Pat Bullock, Chair of Friends of Hamworthy Park, the crowd dived into homemade mulled wine from Upton Bay’s Chef, Mark Jeffries, and a selection of artisan mince pies.

Organised by Home Advisor, Sophie Payne, Upton Bay is running a raffle throughout December, for the chance to win a luxury Christmas Hamper, with all proceeds donated to the Hamworthy Community Food Store, situated in Turlin Moor.

“It’s lovely that a care home this size is using its resources to give something to local people, especially the food store which is vital for a lot of our families this time of year,” commented Pat.

Residents at Upton Bay enjoyed a very merry 1st of December today, getting into the festive spirit with a day full of tree decorating!

They sprinkled lights and laughter all over the home, from our residential suite to Memory Lane, and with Christmas carols and classics filling the halls, carefully placed an array of beautiful baubles on each tree.

And we couldn’t celebrate our first Christmas without a true showstopper of a tree in our entrance hall! Rockefeller – eat your heart out!

This week, we took part in an interactive virtual Christmas-themed floristry masterclass courtesy of Master Florist, Michal Kowalski, from Blooming Haus. 

Blooming Haus, is one of the UK’s most innovative floral design and artisan studios, which keeps sustainability and seasonality at the core of their designs.

Working on their wreaths together, residents reminisced over decades worth of Christmas’s enjoyed. “I’ve hosted Christmas for 60 years,” commented Ivy, resident. “It will be nice to put my feet up this year instead!”

The beautiful embellishments for the wreaths are from Julia’s House Hospice Charity Shop in Creekmoor, whose Christmas shop is raining funds to support children with life-limiting illnesses.

Upton Bay was thrilled to welcome and his dance student Sue to our home for a very special Argentine Tango performance and lesson.

Vito and Sue wowed residents with their fancy footwork and impressive coordination, showcasing routines to a mix of music styles, from traditional to ‘Nuevo’, which introduces modern music into the dance.

The team joined with residents to recreate the smooth moves on the dancefloor, with Vito’s expertise to lead the way.

“I was a keen dancer in my day, it was lovely to watch and have a go myself,” said Margaret, resident, who proved she certainly still had the rhythm as she perfected the steps!

Our ladies and gents simply loved the fast paced routines, which Vito and Sue had truly mastered.

At Upton Bay, we keep life moving! With an exciting array of activities and experiences to enjoy, call today on 01202 679529 to book your loved one’s respite break.  

This week, our residents were thrilled to lead a group of nursery children, from Upton Methodist Church Preschool, around Upton Bay via video link, on an exciting ‘Pumpkin Hunt’.

Our ladies and gents carefully hid the pumpkin themes goodie bags around the home: under beds, in flowerpots, and behind the manager’s desk!

Milo, Upton Bay’s companion puppy, led the way, helping to sniff out the treats as the children called out directions through the camera. And the bubbly bunch of tots hugely enjoyed having their goodie bags delivered afterwards by our Activity Lead, Karen!

“I loved seeing the kiddies on the screen! Like my great grandchildren! I hope they remembered to brush their teeth after the sweeties…” Barbara – resident at Upton Bay.

Our Residents were delighted to welcome Reverend Tess Nesbit to Upton Bay this Autumn, who kindly led our first 'outdoor' service at the Home to celebrate Harvest Festival.

Accompanying Tess were some of the wonderful members of the St Michael's Church Choir, who led us in a joyful selection of hymns, many of which our residents recalled from their youth.

Reverend Tess gave us much 'food for thought', quite literally, as we reflected on the importance of the harvest, and what it can bring both physically and spiritually.

Residents also enjoyed hand crafting the autumnal decorations this week, which decorated the terrace for the service.

We look forward to having the Reverend Tess and the beautiful voices of the Choir back again soon, as we look towards the winter months.