Activities at Waterside Court Care Home

Our wonderful kitchen team baked some delicious, royal-themed cupcakes in honour of Queen Elizabeth’s birthday.

Our themed refreshments were not only served to residents as they enjoyed high tea and reminiscence discussions around the royal family; we also donated some to Cholsey Volunteers and Cholsey Day Centre.

Waterside Court have been working with these two groups to enhance our life enrichment programme and also help support members of the local community. Cholsey Volunteers were established last year to support the elderly and vulnerable amidst the pandemic, so we were delighted to be able to help fill their food bags and include others in our celebrations.

Residents and staff enjoyed an exciting virtual presentation, provided by SEA LIFE London Aquarium.

Everyone at the home had the opportunity to learn more about the SEA LIFE London Aquarium, which is a home to more than 300 species and 4,000 creatures and to see green sea turtles, feeding of Gentoo penguins and sharks in their 1 million litre shark tank.

The SEA LIFE London Aquarium is located on the ground floor of County Hall on the South Bank of the River Thames in central London, near the London Eye. It opened in March 1997 as the London Aquarium and hosts about one million visitors each year.

Roxana Moldova, General Manager at Waterside Court, said: “Our varied life enrichment programme keeps the residents active, and provides a daily choice of engaging physical, mental and spiritual activities tailored to the residents’ interests and abilities. We are lucky to have a cinema room at Waterside Court, so the experience was truly enhanced by watching it on the big screen in our comfortable, high-back chairs.”

Waterside Court were grateful recipients of some tasty brownies, kindly made and donated by Jojococo Chocolate Bakes in South Oxfordshire.

Jojococo Chocolate Bakes make freshly home-made chocolate bakes and deliver to a variety of customers in the local area. They currently support local day centres with donations and also reach out to key worker groups and care homes.

An amazing scheme that the company run is the ‘Moment of Joy’ scheme, which allows someone who makes a purchase on their website to nominate somebody to receive a free cookie of their choosing. Jojococo Chocolate Bakes are avid believers in random acts of kindness and this is a huge part of why Waterside Court look forward to working with them in future.

Jo has kindly offered to donate brownies to Waterside Court on a regular basis. As government guidelines change and restrictions ease, there will be lots of ways that we can work together to help enrich the lives of our residents.

Waterside Court’s own Activity Coordinator was lovely enough to have donated an ornate Dolls House for our residents to use and call their own.

Residents immediately took to the Dolls House and played a part in where it went in the Activity Café to allow them to access it comfortably. The Dolls House was donated with miniature sized furniture and dolls, which residents have loved decorating and organising.

One of the most fruitful things that came from this activity was the discussions it encouraged around our residents’ own memories. Reminiscence activities, particularly for those living with dementia, can be hugely rewarding to residents’ wellbeing. By talking about their own memories, our residents also allow us to build strong and meaningful relationships with them, which then enables us to provide a more person-centred approach to their care.

Residents have been enjoying their first week at Waterside Court. From 1:1 “Getting to Know Me” activities, to Garden Walks and Afternoon Tea, residents have been exploring their wonderful new home and building relationships with each and every team member.

Roxana Moldovan, General Manager at Waterside Court, said: “It’s been wonderful to be open and finally welcome residents into this stunning home. I’ve loved getting to know each and every one of them – those already in the home and those due to arrive in the next few weeks. It’s also been lovely to see friendships already forming between the residents themselves.”

One of the activities that has been well received is watching movies in the beautiful cinema room. Residents have been putting their feet up to a mixture of Classic and Modern films, whilst enjoying a cup of tea and snacks. With cinemas still closed and restrictions to travel out still in place, the team have been working hard to bring experiences inside the home.

Waterside Court were grateful recipients of donations from various members of the community. Included in the donations were some new puzzles, board games, feed for our residents’ bird feeders, arts and crafts materials, DVDs and a massive collections of books.

These donations will go towards our Life Enrichment programme within the home, which is in place to keep residents entertained, active and engaged. Waterside Court’s Activity Coordinator has already planned to use the large collection of books to create a library trolley for our residents, as many of them enjoy relaxing with a good book. As restrictions are still in place and travelling out to the local library is not yet possible, the library trolley is one way that the team can bring the library to residents!