Activities at Upton Bay Care Home

Yesterday, Upton Bay held our first Summer Sports Day, featuring celebrity appearances from resident’s favourite Caring Canines, in celebration of National Dog Day.

With the spirit of the Olympics and Paralympics fresh, families, staff, and residents all took part in a fun-packed afternoon of competitive games, including hula hoop, floor darts, penalty shootout, and a good old egg and spoon race – no boiled eggs included!

Over afternoon tea and home-baked cakes, everyone watched a great display of tricks from pooches Albert, Basil, Jenny, and Peggy. People and pups alike awarded for their successes! Well done to care assistant Kirsty for a triumphant win of the egg and spoon!

Thanks to safe and gradual easing of restrictions, it was wonderful for our residents to be surrounded by generations of family for such a brilliant day in the sun!

A picture says a thousand words… and our residents at Upton Bay certainly have many stories to tell through their photographs!

Top professional photographer, Damian Bailey, guided our residents through a live streaming photography masterclass, explaining how he captures special moments and what makes a great photo in terms of technique and composition, from landscapes to portrait photos.

Damian has won Wedding Photographer of the Year and is listed as one of London’s top wedding photographers.

Damian said: “We all love looking at photos of all different types of occasions, they help us to remember events and help preserve them – a good photo is like a slice of life and can bring joy to people for years to come."

This week, our residents have been tasked with putting into practice the tips learned from Damien, and take a unique photograph from their own perspective. We look forward to sharing with you their personal photos, and the stories that accompany them!

Green Thumbs at Upton Bay!

With the promise of a heatwave on the horizon, our Residents at Upton Bay took the opportunity to do a little gardening, in celebration of Allotment Week.

Aprons and gloves on to protect us from the soil, we had a selection of herbs and veggies to plant, including parsley, carrots, onions, and radishes, which (fingers crossed) will thrive in our raised planters.

Starting off in pots so that our residents can keep a close eye on the seeds, once sprouted they will be transferred to various spots in our lovely gardens for year round TLC!

Resident, Ken, is an experienced agriculturalist, and had some words of wisdom for us – “Somewhere sunny and warm, and they’ll be sprouting in no time!”

Allotment Week raises awareness of the importance of growing and sourcing locally, and there really is something satisfying about eating your own produce!

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.”

Residents at Upton Bay celebrated their love for reading and storytelling, for Book Lovers Day 2021.

We were thrilled to welcome local author, Mary Louisa Fisher, to showcase her new book, ‘Memoirs of a Child in Poole’, a wonderful anecdotal history book about Mary’s life as a young girl in the loveliest of seaside towns.

We listened to a live reading of Mary’s book, which resonated with many of our Residents, having lived similar childhoods in the 1940’s. Brian, resident, said, ‘The book was great to listen to, hearing about old Poole brought back memories as a lad, mucking about on the quay!’

Mary kindly gifted Upton Bay a signed copy of her brilliant book, which we look forward to picking up and getting lost in, with a cuppa! We thank Mary and her daughter and editor, Sue, for joining us to celebrate the joy of reading!

Upton Bay was delighted to welcome The Mayor of Poole, Councilor Julie Bagwell, to join our team and residents for International Friendship Day!

We recognised an established friendship with The Friends of Hamworthy Park, who so kindly donated a commemorative bench and plaque to feature in our gardens, and also a new friendship formed with The Mayor, who took a tour of our Home, and met with residents over afternoon tea.

In teams, our guests, residents and staff got rather competitive over a pub-style quiz, making for a very lively afternoon tea indeed!

Copious amounts of freshly baked jam and cream scones were on the menu, homemade by our in house Chefs.

The Mayor, Councilor Julie Bagwell said: “It was brilliant to see the home in full swing, the team are doing such a fantastic job here. Upton Bay is a beautiful home, and the residents today were just so happy. There are some incredible facilities here, the spa baths in particular! What’s lovely is that there are even people living here, who used to work in the old Metal Box Factory itself!”

General Manager Mevin said, “We are all very excited about the official opening of our Residential Suite; our team have really enjoyed being part of the beginnings of the home, welcoming every new resident and their families. We were honoured to have The Mayor join us on the day too, it’s been such a wonderful experience for our residents.”

It’s been a busy month for our Residents at Upton Bay, so a little ‘Me-Time’ was in order this week.

Our Ladies spent the day in our stylish Salon, where our Beauty Team worked their magic to leave each resident looking and feeling her best!

Hair Stylist Jenny took excellent care of all barnet’s in the building, styling an array of cuts and blowdry’s. Whilst qualified Nail Technician Kirsty gave our ladies stunning sets of polished gel manicures, each choosing their own signature colour.

Moving in at Upton Bay really is the beginning of a social, varied, and exciting life, with every day tailored to our Residents wishes.