Activities at Waterside Court Care Home

You better beer-lieve that residents at Waterside Court were more than hoppy to raise a glass, and sample some top ales, in celebration of National Beer Day.

Our Activity Team prepared a lovely selection of different beers for residents to try, along with some tasty savoury treats to compliment the different flavours. 

Roxana Moldovan, General Manager at Waterside Court, said: “We love socialising and celebrating all kind of events, it is wonderful now that we can invite family and friends into our garden to join in events. National Beer Day is a day that the residents really enjoy, who doesn’t enjoy a cold beer on a summer’s day!”

Cheers to a wonderful afternoon! 

Residents and staff at Waterside Court celebrated National Carers Week, which took place from 7th – 13th June. Residents wanted to thank all of the wonderful staff at the home, whose hard work and dedication make a real difference to the lives of those living in their care.

Carers Week is an annual event to raise awareness of caring, highlighting the challenges carers face, and recognising the contribution they make to our residents, families and communities throughout the UK. The theme for Carers Week this year is ‘Making caring visible and valued’ - to shine a light on all those who work tirelessly behind the scenes to care for vulnerable people in our communities.

Staff were treated to “Thank You” goodies from Barchester and enjoyed a wonderful presentation, where we were overjoyed by one of our residents who took it upon himself to stand and give the most amazing, heart-felt speech.

Michael, a resident at Waterside Court, said: “We are grateful to all of you carers for the incredible work that you do. You always support and help us and it’s been lovely staying here with you all. There are such lovely personalities here and it's been a delight.”

One of the activities that residents enjoy at Waterside Court is having a good natter with our "Throw and Tell" memory ball. Residents pass the ball to each other and are given conversation prompts, such as “favourite biscuits”, “where I grew up”, “best childhood memory” and much more.

This simple but effective resource is a great way to encourage conversations between residents and lead reminiscence discussions. It’s also been a fun way for residents and staff to get to know each other a bit more. The “Throw and Tell” ball has another benefit of helping new residents to “break the ice” when they first move in, as the activity helps them get to know others quickly and easily, whilst also having fun.

There were smiles all round at Waterside Court as residents enjoyed an outdoor cinema experience and afternoon tea with their loved ones.

Just like the rest of the country, Government guidelines for care homes are starting to relax and up to 30 people can now come together again safely in outdoor spaces.

Roxana Moldovan, General Manager at Waterside Court commented: “It is great to be able to open up our gardens again and have family members join residents for activities. We have really missed being able to welcome them into our home during lockdown, although we’ve been facilitating lots of individual, booked family visits.  It’s lovely to be able to host events in the garden again now that lockdown is easing and the weather is getting warmer.”

In addition to afternoon tea, families and residents were treated to some cinema-themed snacks, which included a selection of individually wrapped chocolates, an array of soft drinks and, of course, popcorn!

We look forward to embracing the summer weather and can't wait to host more outdoor events for both residents and their families.

Residents and staff at Waterside Court were delighted to welcome Live Entertainers back into the home. Fiona Harrisson, a soprano musician who specialises in music from the 1880s to the 1970s, was welcomed into Waterside Court for a fantastic afternoon of live entertainment.

Activity Coordinator, May Kidner, said: “I reached out to Fiona as soon as the guidelines changed to say that live entertainers were allowed back into care homes. Fiona put on a wonderful performance that had residents dancing and singing along. She also wears costumes as part of her act, which the residents really loved to see. We now have live entertainment booked in right through till Christmas and hopefully, in the near future, we can start inviting family members along as well."

We had a delightful lunch, specially prepared by our Head Chef, to celebrate National Fish and Chip Day. Chef whipped up some lovely flavoured batters for residents to try, along with some home-made tartare sauce and an option of mushy peas or regular peas, with mint flavouring.

General Manager, Roxana Moldovan, said: “It wasn’t just the residents that were excited when we found out there was a National Fish & Chip Day, the eyes of all our staff lit up too – fish & chips are such an iconic dish, everyone loves them and it’s even better when there is a good excuse to eat them!”

Our varied life enrichment programme keeps residents active, and provides a daily choice of engaging physical, mental and spiritual activities tailored to residents’ interests and abilities.