Activities at Westergate House Care Home
Our teams are trained to enrich the lives of residents through stimulating the mind, body and soul, and taking the time to learn about each person to ensure everyone receives support that adds enrichment to their life.
Our activities team are great at building the activities programme around the likes and interests of the people we care for. Ensuring that our social events offer fun and adventure is part of the ethos of our home; it’s important that those we support can enjoy an active and social lifestyle. Of course, there will always be those who prefer peace and quiet, and in these instances, a cup of tea and a chat are always welcomed.
Lee Austin
My name is Lee and I am the Head of Lifestyle here at Westergate House.
I support our residents daily to do the things they enjoy and it is extremely important to me that we are offering a premium and person centred service to each resident. I support our residents on a daily basis by providing meaningful and quality activities either in groups or on a 1:1 basis, to help encourage and build confidence while creating an enjoyable environment for everyone. Westergate House is the home of our residents, we as staff are working in it, so it is extremely important to me that we are respectful of that, while offering a premium and person centred service to each and every resident.
I am a trained actor and professional vocalist and not shy in making a fool of myself. If I do that every day to put a smile on our residents faces then I’m happy I have played my part, along with the rest of the amazing team, to brightening their day. If you hear someone singing along the corridor or see them dancing in the lounges, it will probably be me.
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 Westergate House Care Home
60th Wedding celebrations
Westergate House were honoured to host a very special occasion for a resident and her husband. A sixtieth wedding anniversary was celebrated in style, with a three-course lunch specially prepared by Head Chef Chris and his team.
Before the happy event, Chris chatted with the couple about favourite meals and created a bespoke menu that reflected their choices. Seated at a table in the bistro, the happy couple enjoyed Sautéed Woodland Mushrooms with a Cream Sauce to start, followed by Duck breast cooked in a bath of water at 58 degrees, then pan fried with Red Wine and Blackberry Jus, and a dessert of Banana Split ice cream with glazed banana.
The fabulous lunch was washed down with homemade wine brought in by the resident’s husband. A really wonderful lunch and a truly memorable time for both of them.
Mini Bus Trip to Romford
Here at Westergate House, we decided to organise a mini Bus Trip to Romford to have lunch at Harvester.
The residents were very impressed with the self serve unlimited salad, which they all enjoyed with their main meals which included BBQ chicken and chips, gammon and more.
They all left the restaurant completely full and very satisfied!
We can't wait for our next visit.
The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning
Westergate House took part in the annual Macmillan Coffee morning to raise money for people facing cancer.
What a treat! With a wonderful selection of cakes and pastries, including homemade Lemon Cake, Cheesecake and Black Forest Gateau, baked by Second Chef Konnie and her team, we struggled to choose what we fancied sampling with our cups of coffee and tea.
There was a big temptation to try more than one slice! An array of visitors joined us for the fund-raising event; residents, families and friends, as well as neighbours new to the area. A super morning enjoyed by all.
A visit to Denmans Gardens
Visits out into the local community are a big part of the activities calendar and the Westergate House mini-bus can be seen out and about exploring various places of interest local to the home. On this occasion, there was somewhere on our doorstep! The activities team invited residents to put the brollies up and take a walk to Denman’s Gardens, a beautiful garden centre just a few strides away. The fresh air and exercise ensured everyone was ready for afternoon tea at the delightful coffee shop within the grounds. Hot drinks and delicious teatime treats were enjoyed in the company of good friends.
Westergate House Library Service
The activities team is proud to open the doors to the Westergate House library, organised and run by one of our residents in the House community.
Our librarian is a lady who created and ran a library in Spain for several years before making Westergate House her home, and has extensive experience in sourcing and organising books for the benefit of others.
Making good use of a trolley, she arranges the books and takes good care of them, wheeling them around the community to display to anyone requiring the service. The residents at Westergate House are enjoying the library service; they receive a warm welcome and a smile from our librarian, and unlimited information and conversation about the titles on offer.
Cookery Club
The Memory Lane Cafe is a weekly event in our dementia community and is very popular with the residents. Every week we choose a different cake or dessert to prepare and there is no end to the range of delicious treats to be made. The café is a sociable activity, and the residents are keen to get involved. It’s never long before the delightful aroma of baking hangs in the air. Such a lovely trip down memory lane; we take the opportunity to reminisce, and talk about the times we enjoyed cooking with mother as children.
