Activities at Westergate House Care Home

Residents at Westergate House enjoyed the second in a series of art workshops delivered by Emily Robson, Public Programme Manager, Access and Engagement, of Pallant House Art Gallery. The focus was on the Sussex Landscapes exhibition, discussing the local landscape and then doing some watercolour painting with one of Pallant House's artist educators, Jo Downers. Lucy brought laminates of some of the landscape pictures in the gallery collection for the residents to work from. The results were amazing - beautiful muted colours complimenting the shades and hues of our local countryside.

The blustery weather did not deter our residents from taking a trip out in the minibus to a local garden centre, Brick Kiln Nurseries, today. With the beautiful festive decorations, a country-kitchen cafe and plants and shrubs galore, there was plenty for everyone to see and explore. After browsing and enjoying the lights, we all popped into the cafe, where we received a warm welcome from the staff, and homemade cake with a lovely cup of tea.

Residents and staff were soon in to the spirit of things by decorating the home with seasonal decorations and munching on sweets and treats.  Preparations were made on the Memory lane community, where pumpkins replaced vases for autumnal flower-arranging, amongst the Halloween backdrop of webs and spiders. There was fun to be had wearing witches hats and taking part in arts and crafts and spooky party games.

Staff and residents celebrated 'Wear it Pink Day' at Westergate House care home, Fontwell, on Friday, to raise funds for Breast Cancer Awareness.  A chance for everyone to dress up in their favourite colour! The Activities Team were delighted to display their creative skills with pink decorations, a pink tea party and pink flower arrangements made with the residents to mark the occasion.  There was fizzy rose and pink lemonade to drink, and wonderful cakes prepared by Head Chef Chris and his team.  It was such a lovely way to raise awareness and funds for a cause that is close to everyone's heart.

General Manager, Paul Middleton-Russell, commented "We've had a super day. It was wonderful to join in the fun and raise awareness for such a worthy cause."

Westergate House care home in Fontwell welcomed family and friends on Saturday for an Open Day, where ‘Stepping into Autumn’ was the theme. Residents and staff decorated the home and everyone took part in a seasonal celebration. Chef Chris and his wonderful team created a traditional menu with a fish and chip lunch, served authentically in newspaper and takeaway box, and a delightful lemon meringue for dessert. All three communities had entertainment; Geoff Valenti played accordion in the House, Mitchell Armstrong played guitar with vocals in the Memory lane community, and Leo May engaged residents living with dementia with music and songs from all the decades.

Paul Middleton-Russell, General Manager at Westergate House, commented: “We have had a fabulous day; it is always fantastic to welcome friends and relatives here at the home, to take part in celebrations with our residents and staff.”

Residents at Westergate House were delighted to take part in a fabulous art workshop with Emily Robson, Public Programme Manager at Pallant House Art gallery. Emily visited the home and introduced the theme of Surrealism, profiling the work of artist Eileen Agar. Our residents were asked how Eileen's art made them feel and their thoughts on her choice of colours. Everyone then engaged in an activity creating compositions using pre-cut acetate shapes and collage materials to create individual Surrealist pieces.

Emily, and her colleague Lucy, from Pallant House Art Gallery are visiting Westergate House to deliver workshops on a monthly basis, and will be exploring the work of different artists and eras with our residents. We are looking forward to next time!