Activities at Washington Grange Care Home

Staff and residents at Barchester’s Washington Grange were treated to an interactive virtual floristry masterclass courtesy of Master Florist, Michal Kowalski, from Blooming Haus. 

Blooming Haus started with a small pop-up shop in Chelsea.  They have since blossomed spectacularly on to the floristry scene as ‘floral engineers’, carving themselves an outstanding reputation as one of the UK’s most innovative floral design studios. The company is the vision of Master Florist, Michal Kowalski and his business partner, Michael Dariane. The pair bring a completely fresh approach to floristry and their ambition to push the boundaries of traditional floristry has laid the foundations of Blooming Haus’ success to date.

Birthdays play an important part in the homes busy life enrichment calendar and resident, Esther recently celebrated her 90th years young birthday with a family visit and was delighted to receive many gifts and cards from family and friends. Everyone wished the birthday girl a happy birthday as she was presented with a very special birthday cake which had been delivered by family to the home.

A popular activity of the home for residents is enjoying a spot of bird watching, they enjoy gathering in the garden or sitting at windows to see which species they can spot, with this in mind and led by the homes activities coordinator the decided to make some bird feeders and fat balls for them to enjoy.

While finishing off the feeds, there was talk of their favourite species of birds and which ones they hope these tasty additions will attract. It was enjoyable hearing about their hopes for the activity and plans to keep an eye on the feeders once they're on display.

For residents at Chester Court the long awaited reunion with two family members has become a reality, as two people are now allowed to visit each resident in their bedroom at the same time.

There has been much anticipation of this moment by families and residents alike.  Guidance was issued by the Government at the beginning of April and Barchester Healthcare, who run Chester Court care home, is proceeding with a safe and cautious approach to visiting. Strict protocols are in place with all visitors required to have a negative Lateral Flow Device test result before being allowed into the home, and infection control measures and social distancing in place for every visit.

Residents from Washington Grange often get together to enjoy their regular art and craft sessions which supports their creative ideas and encourages different methods of Art. Residents have been busy showing their own style of colourful designs.

This class is particularly popular with all and everyone thoroughly enjoys a get together with a cuppa and a slice of delicious cake.   Residents enjoy the colouring and crafting as find it very calming and therapeutic. It enhances mindfulness and promotes a positive mental well-being.  

Residents at Washington Grange have been spending some time playing with the magic table. 

Both Residents and colleagues at the home get a great deal of fun out of playing with the magic table.

The table projects light out of it so Residents can create pictures using the images that are on the table. It is a fantastic piece of equipment and is very popular, the Residents really enjoy playing the games on it.