Activities at Westergate House Care Home
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.
Read our brochure 'Life-enriching activities' for more information about life in our care homes.
Read our brochure
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
Open for Vistors
What a wonderful day it was when Westergate House was able to open to outside visiting for relatives and loved ones! Following all government infection control guidelines, a well organised appointment system was put in place and residents and their families were delighted to spend time together in person after many months of skyping, writing and phone calls. Resident, Heather, enthused that her visit was “wonderful".
Our Latest Masterpiece
Our resident art enthusiasts proudly showed off this month’s artwork after being inspired by our recent rainbow collage. This time, they chose to recreate Vincent Van Gogh’s beautiful sunflower masterpiece.
Dennis started with hand-painting the vase and background whilst Wendy and friends painted the beautiful sunflowers in the various autumnal shades. The end result is striking. We’re sure Van Gogh would be proud!
Painting Rainbows
Westgate House's residents participated in our morning Art Class suggested we join with our community and paint rainbows for the NHS and our lovely staff at Westergate House, thanking them all for their hard work and dedication.
We displayed the residents’ pictures in the front windows, making a beautiful collage of rainbows. Felicity and Kay, our Activities Coordinators, proudly showed off our finished window display whilst social distancing in the sunshine.
The residents have now requested another theme for Art Class - maybe next time we will paint a Van Gogh!
Postcard Initiative
As part of Barchester's Just a Note to Say postcard initiative, Elizabeth enjoyed writing to her family and asking about her dog. This is just one way that Westergate House is continuing to keep relatives and friends in communication with each other during these unprecedented times.
Our residents sent many postcards and are eagerly awaiting replies.
Virtual Reality Goggles
The residents at Westergate House enjoyed an interesting and fun afternoon whilst testing out our new Virtual Reality Goggles. Ronald, one of the residents, said that the experience of virtual scuba diving on the Coral Reef and watching all the sea life swim by was simply amazing.
The goggles brought a little bit of the ‘Jacques Cousteau’ out in all of us!
International Nurses Day
The 12th May 2020 marks International Nurses Day and is an opportunity to recognise the important work and dedication of nurses everywhere, who often go above and beyond the call of duty as these current times of crisis have proved.
To commemorate the day, the residents and staff at Westergate House marked the occasion with afternoon bubbly and traditional Victoria sponge cake for all.
Dennis Mounstephen, who lives at Westergate House, gave a moving tribute and toasted our lovely nurses on the day. Dennis reminisced that he himself had his first flavour of the nursing life as a young man who courted and went on to marry a nurse himself.
Coming from a family filled with medical professionals including an array of nurses, Dennis explained that he understands the hard work and dedication it takes to fulfill the role. He went on to specifically thank the nurses at Westergate, calling them ‘guardian angels’.
