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
Happy Retirement
One of the many amazing things about Westergate House is the dedication and commitment we see from our incredible staff team. Today we said goodbye to one of our exceptional senior carers, Glenn. Glenn (in the middle with our General Manager Paul) has been with us for over 21 years and has always gone above and beyond with the care and compassion he has for the residents in his care. We wish him all the very best in his early retirement, although he has said he is happy to stay on as a bank staff after a well-deserved break. Have fun Glenn and thank you.
Pallant House Art Gallery
This week we were very excited to be invited along to Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, for the opening of an exhibition that we have been part of producing work for.
Over the last year we’ve had regular visiting workshops from the gallery, as part of their community project; and some of our residents have had the chance to work on a number of artistic techniques. The residents have really enjoyed this creativity Our Butterfly piece took pride of place at the exhibition with some wonderful comments from everyone involved. A number of our clay pots were also presented beautifully too.
We have been very lucky to be part of this community project and look forward to the next few sessions we have with the gallery and the new things we will get to have a go at.
A Fun-Filled Sunny Day
What a lovely day we had at Westergate House yesterday. The sun was shining on our beautiful home and many residents got out and enjoyed the warm breeze to walk some laps or just sit and relax on the patio and the lawn. Throughout the day we had Quizzes, Puzzles, a wonderful Church Service, our Magic Interactive Table and our Walkabout Wednesday activity. There was plenty of laughter and friendship to go around. Add on top an amazing lunch from Head Chef Chris and his team, we all, staff included, had a really lovely day.
Westergate Walking Challenge
Our walking challenge here at Westergate House is going very well. Our challenge is to walk the equivalent of Barchester Westergate House to Barchester Pentland View, a total of 682 miles. As of this morning, 1st September, we have completed 3751 laps of our track for a total distance so far of 187.5 miles.
We had a staff meeting yesterday and some of us went out after to clock a few laps in before heading back onto the floor.
We are raising money for 2 charities, Dementia Support & Sage House again as well as Barchester's Charitable Foundation
Many thanks and we look forward to welcoming lots of you to help support our challenge.
My Bones Are Woven
Resident, Professor Ann Sutton OBE at Westergate House has been a highly regarded artist for over 70 years. She has been at the forefront of cutting edge techniques and processes that have helped her create some incredible pieces of art that are displayed the world over.
My Bones Are Woven is a documentary film made about Anns life and work with a beautiful look into her studio and life in Arundel. Ann now lives at Westergate House but still works every day and takes regular trips back to her studio to work on new pieces.
Westergate House hosted a film afternoon this week, welcoming Jane Mote, the director of the documentary and Ann Sutton to a showing of the documentary and a Q&A after with other residents, family and friends.
It was a wonderful afternoon spent learning about Ann and hearing some incredible stories in the Q&A after. This was the last public showing of the film before it is released in America and Canada for education establishments and main stream performances.
Ann Sutton has only lived at Westergate House for around 8 months and is loved by staff and residents alike. Staff at the home were amazed and excited to hear new things about her life and see some of her work on display.
Ann has work currently displayed in the Tate Gallery and is in talks with the Victoria & Albert Museum to display some of her pieces there too.
Paul Middleton-Russell, General Manager at Westergate House said: “We want everyone we care for to know how important they are to us here at Westergate House. Life stories are an integral part of getting to know our residents. We are very fortunate to have Professor Ann stay with us here and call it her home. The documentary was incredibly interesting and was inspirational to find out so much more about her life and work within the art world.”
Westergate House plans to take Ann on a trip up to the Tate Gallery in the next few weeks so she can see her art on display. A day that will be memorable and very exciting for everyone involved.
Coffee Concert
What a fantastic morning we had here at Westergate House today. Our Coffee Concert was a great success with residents and family members from all 3 of our communities coming together in the house lounge for the concert.
Thank you to Everyone Matters Charity and The Hanover Band for getting in touch to arrange this concert as part of the Arundel Festival. Margaret, Richard and Rebecca performed beautifully and everyone enjoyed the amazing sounds and history of the instruments they were using.
Chef Connie’s Cakes were well received too. What a very enjoyable morning here at Westergate House.
