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
Martin's Millionth Step at Upton Bay!
Upton Bay was delighted to welcome Martin Ockendon over the finish line, as he completed his triumphant fundraising challenge – Martin has completed a staggering One Million Steps in the month of June, raising money for Alzheimer’s Research UK. In early 2020 Martin was diagnosed with a rare form of dementia – Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA), which resulted in him being made redundant on health grounds.
With a love for walking, Martin set himself the challenge on completing one million steps, which equated to 33,333 steps per day. Martin walked from morning to evening some days, come rain or shine, to hit his target. You may have spotted him in his signature orange around Upton Country Park!
Cheered on by family, friends, and residents and staff of Upton Bay, Martin broke through the finish line hand in hand with grandson, Teddy. And to refuel after such a tough month, stacks of homemade baked treats were on offer, courtesy of Upton Bay’s Catering Team.
Martin’s Just Giving page saw a huge influx of generous donations to support Alzheimer’s Research UK with the fantastic work they do to make a breakthrough in developing treatments for Alzheimer’s.
Specialising in providing the highest quality of Dementia Care, Upton Bay was proud to support such a wonderful and much needed charity.
Martin has already set his sights on his next challenge for charity, which he is looking forward to commencing and involving the Poole Community!
Upton Bay's Weekend Movie Club
Our Boutique Cinema was the perfect place to spend a rainy weekend at Upton Bay. Feet up, popcorn at the ready, lined up a whole host of Classic Cinema Delights! Musicals were the theme this weekend, so we started off with State Fair and Sun Valley Serenade, of which our ladies knew all the words to the soundtrack! Sunday called for something even more musical – our Cinema was full for a sing-a-long viewing of the 1978 hit Grease, followed by Oliver. With a cinematic 75" screen to get lost in, our residents stepped back in time as they were transported back to the Golden Age of Cinema!
Furry Friends
From pedigree pooches to majestic mutts, at Upton Bay, we’ve been fawning over all of the furry friend entries into our virtual dog competition!
Entries came from family, friends, staff members, Caring Canines, and our Poole community — what a Dog Loving Nation we are!
Residents just loved each and every paw-fect dog, including rescues with heart-warming journeys, which made for a very tough job deciding the winners of each category.
We received generous doggie treat donations to gift the precious pups, and our residents hand crafted each rosette and are looking forward to awarding the winners!
Viva L’Italia
We had the pleasure of celebrating Italian Independence Day at Upton Bay, which marks the official formation of the Republic of Italy after World War II.
We tucked in to an array of authentic Italian dishes from Chef Alain, and were treated to a wonderful display from the Frecce Tricolori, the Italian Air Force acrobatic patrol. Nine planes emitted red, green, and white smoke over the Monument to Vittorio Emmanuele II (the first King of unified Italy), creating a beautiful design resembling the Italian flag.
Finest Fish & Chips
We tucked into authentic homemade fish & chips with a view, to celebrate National Fish and Chip Day — as if we needed a reason to enjoy this British favourite!
We placed our orders and were treated to table-side preparation of our delicious dinners by Sous Chef, Mark, whose crispy battered fish went down a treat.
Our lovely residents experienced ‘Upton Bay’s Fish & Chip Shop’ all across the home, as we brought a taste of the seaside to everyone!
Blooming Lovely Floristry at Upton Bay
Here at Upton Bay, we were delighted to spend time creating beautiful floral masterpieces to enter the #BloomingBarchester competition in partnership with Blooming Haus - Floral Engineers, following their amazing virtual flower arranging masterclass.
We had a wonderful time decorating and working on our arrangements and are happy to say we're impressed with our skills in applying all the tips and ideas learnt during the class to make our colourful floral designs!
A big 'Thank You' to Tower Park Community for donating such an excellent selection of flowers for our competition entry!
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
