Activities at Westlake House Care Home

Residents enjoy playing hoopla and bocce bowls, which combine exercise with the thrill of competitive sport. We invite entertainers and musicians to visit the home on a regular basis and residents very much enjoy watching them perform.

We also have our pet therapy dog, Marley, visit the home on a fortnightly basis, and residents love petting him. They also enjoy health and fitness days, where they get the opportunity to participate in armchair exercises and target games.

We always celebrate National Volunteer Week, which we use as a chance to say thank you for the wonderful work that our volunteers do that further enhances the quality of life for those who live at Westlake.

As well as continuing with our favourite activities, such as arts & crafts, bingo, knit & natter, Scrabble, board games, bridge, quizzes, pampers & manicures, reminiscence sessions and musical memories, we always like to launch new activities for residents, which give them the opportunity to socialise with their friends and families. These could be our own vegetable patches, flower arranging sessions, a book club or anything else that our imaginations conjure up.

Enriching life
Watch our video on life enrichment in our homes.

Rosie Duhig

Activities Coordinator Lead

I joined the Barchester family in November 2024 and have instantly felt welcome and supported. As an activity coordinator, I am passionate about getting to know our residents and delivering  person-centred care and activities to all residents, an approach supported by a holistic, whole-home view.  

I have been in a Care support role since 2019 and an Activity Coordinator since 2020. I love that my role brings laughter and joy to others. It so wonderful seeing people engaging in an activity they enjoy and interacting with each other. I am very passionate about Intergenerational projects, as something magical happens when old and young get together. 

 

Life-encriching activities booklet

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 Westlake House Care Home

A showcase of musicals with Demelza

A wonderful afternoon with Demelza. Demelza took us through a showcase of musicals including #Carmen and #thekingandI Can you tell which photos are from which musical. Residents sang along and made their requests. We all look forward to seeing Demelza again soon.

A visit from The West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service

Westlake House were delighted to welcome The West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service into the home on Monday. Members of the team from Blue watch presented a very informative session to residents, their families, staff and our neighbour's from the local community.Blue watch gave us ideas and information on how to improve fire safety at home and the importance of early #SmokeDetection. They spoke about the importance of planning Escape Routes incase of fire and raised awareness on #KitchenFireSafety. Everyone had the opportunity to ask questions and we got to find out more about the amazing job our fire fighters on a daily basis.Thank you Blue watch we really appreciated your visit and thank you for all you do for our community.

A trip to the garden centre

This week residents took a trip out to Newbridge Nurseries Garden Centre with Westlake House team members Mel and Dave.There was a beautiful array of house plants and time to stock up on decorations as the festive season approaches.Retails therapy followed by tea and coffee makes a wonderful day out.
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Westlake House welcomes Falkland Islands Government Office Representative

Staff and residents at Barchester Healthcare’s Westlake House care home in Horsham, West Sussex were delighted to welcome Mr Richard Hyslop, The Falkland Island Government representative to the UK to their home. Richard was appointed as The Falkland Island Government representative to the UK in 2020. The Governor generally holds responsibility for managing the Territory’s external affairs, defence and internal security like the police, and often the power to make or veto laws.

Sheila Elliot, resident ambassador at Westlake House was part of the welcoming committee and escorted guests on a tour of the home. Richard spent time with residents and members of the team and they were also joined by Cllr Nigel Emery, Chairman of Horsham District Council, and local Veterans from The Crawley & Horsham Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Clubs and representatives from The Horsham Royal British Legion, who also launched their annual Poppy Appeal on the same day.  

Richard gave a talk and was able to share details on the work and developments since the 1982 Falklands conflict and updated the audience on economic activity such as tourism and agriculture, protection of the environment flora and fauna, healthcare, and education as well as internal policy and legislation. It was noted that The UK Government retains Foreign Affairs and Defence and maintains military presence on the islands.

Richard Hyslop said “I was honoured to represent the people and Government of the Falkland Islands to thank and update the Falkland Veterans and residents of Barchester Westlake House Care home on the developments that have taken place in the Islands since the Falklands War, and to thank them for all they did to liberate the Islands. It was great, over a very delicious lunch, to spend time speaking with the veterans and to hear their own experiences of the Falklands, not just in 1982, but from service at other times.”

Cllr Nigel Emery, Chairman of Horsham District Council said “It was wonderful to meet Richard and hear of the work of the Falklands Government office and hear of the progress since the conflict in 1982. It was also a pleasure to meet the veterans of the Falkland Islands and continue my ongoing support to the Crawley & Horsham Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club which meets at Westlake House on regular basis.”

Mick Turner, a representative for the Crawley & Horsham Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club (CHAFVBC) said “I was hugely impressed by this event, and at how much effort had been put in to make our veterans feel so welcome. The event was well attended, and we were honoured to have Falklands war veterans in the audience. Richard Hyslop gave an informative and inspiring presentation. Westlake House’s Care Home manager, Christine Sullivan and her team provided the wonderful venue and facilities and were on hand throughout to support the veterans, residents and invited guests. We enjoyed and excellent lunch prepared by Barchesters fantastic chefs and gave us opportunity to share our experiences. The CHAFVBC are honoured and privileged to be associated with Westlake House, and as a club feel very welcome and appreciated as veterans by all the staff at the home.

Christine Sullivan, General Manager at Westlake House, Horsham said: “It was wonderful for Richard Hyslop to visit our home and give up so much time to meet with Veterans from the community and our residents. We were also grateful veterans from our sister homes could join us. We felt honoured by his visit and everyone very much enjoyed meeting Richard and chatting to him.”

Happy 59th Wedding Anniversary Joan and David.

Everyone at Westlake House had a wonderful afternoon celebrating the 59th Wedding Anniversary Joan and David Clark.The chef baked a delicious cake and the team decorated the lounge to celebrate.Congratulations to Joan and David from us all at Westlake House.

Wedding ceremony live from Australia

Edith, came to stay at Westlake House, while her daughter and family travelled to Australia for her granddaughter Kelly’s wedding. When hearing this, the kind-hearted team suggested they bring the wedding to Edith to make the day as special and memorable as possible.The home was decorated with beautiful flowers and arrangements were made with Edith’s daughter, Debbie, to live stream the wedding service all the way from Australia. A family friend was also invited to Westlake House to celebrate the special occasion with a wedding breakfast, glasses of fizz and wedding cake to toast the happy couple.Edith was overjoyed to be able to witness the ceremony live from Australia. The day was made extra special for her when she got to speak to the bride and groom on FaceTime after the ceremony.As a memento the team put together an album with photos from the special day and presented to Edith with a photo in a frame.”Edith’s Granddaughter Kelly said: “I was so delighted that my nanny got to see our wedding. We were all so happy to know she was watching.”