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

Christmas Tree shopping

Christmas Tree shopping Sheila, the resident ambassador at Westlake House set off with Mel, Daniella and Dave in our brand new minibus on a quest to find the perfect tree for our reception and bistro area.We searched high and low and found the perfect one at Newbridge Nurseries Garden Centre in Horsham. The team there were fabulous in helping us to chose and telling us about the different trees.I now has pride of place and we are looking forward to decorating it.

A visit to The Chelsea Pensioners Museum.

The Chelsea Pensioners are retired British Army veterans who live at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London. They come from various backgrounds across the United Kingdom, and their home here is an historic institution dedicated to providing care, camaraderie, and support to those who have served our nation.Eminent architect Sir John Soane designed and built the new yard between 1814-17. It has been refurbished over the last three years thanks to a grant from the The National Lottery Heritage Fund with support from other benefactors and charitable trusts.Chris, general manager at Westlake House was delighted to accompany AFVBC Crawley & Horsham as a thank you for hosting the Veterans Breakfast Club.It was a wonderful meeting so many interesting people and finding our more about the Chelsea Pensioners history.

A trip to the Christmas lights in Horsham

On Friday residents and staff from Westlake House Care Home took at trip out on our new mini bus to Horsham, celebrating the start of the festive season with a Christmas Launch Party event in #HorshamTownCentreThere was live music, street performers, late night shopping and food and drink stalls to enjoy. We really enjoyed being out and about in the hustle and bustle of Horsham with everyone in a festive mood. We had such a wonderful evening.Thank you to Horsham District Council who arranged the event jointly with Your Horsham we had a wonderful time.

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.