Activities at Westwood House Care Home
As Activity Coordinator at Westwood House I am fully committed to organising activities for all of the residents. This includes activities within the home such as reminiscence sessions, and planning events such as the Summer and Christmas parties. We have also provided some very successful trips out to local places of interest in our minibus and have monthly visits from entertainers and musicians. We are always encouraging local schools to get involved and have recently managed to get a local charity 'Spare tyre' working with us very successfully.
It is important to me that each individual who we support can get as much from these as possible, so we try our best to arrange activities that reflect their interests and capabilities as best as possible, and encourage them to participate in any way they can. We also encourage relatives to join with activities and events as often as they can.
Liz Wickers
My name is Liz and I am the lifestyle coordinator at Westwood House. I have always lived and worked in Southwark and Lambeth boroughs. I spent 25 years within the education sector before deciding to try new roles. As well as teaching I have also had the privilege of being a personal carer in Dementia. I am so happy that I have been welcomed into the Westwood House family where I can continue to grow and develop.
I aim to offer a range of varied and tailored activities and group sessions that are meaningful to each of them. I am thrilled to be supporting the team in delivering fun, engaging and interesting activities for our residents.
I look forward to meeting you all!
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 Westwood House Care Home
Celebration of Life
At Westwood House we want to remember the residents who have sadly passed away whilst in our care. This is the first year that we have held this service and hope it will be an annual event. We invited the relatives of those residents who had passed in the last 18 months. We asked that they brought in a photo of their loved one to stick in our special photo album which is dedicated to late residents. We had a bowl of water with rose petals and floating candles. The service was led by our two local visiting vicars and the relatives who attended were invited to say their loved one's name and light a candle for them. The staff who were also present lit candles for other residents and dedicated the service to all the residents of Westwood House. After the service, we all released balloons with remembrance messages on them.
One family have already planted a rose in memory of their mum who died last year and will be bringing in a dedication plaque to go with it. Other families have also been invited to do the same if they so wish.
We hope that next year more relatives will be able to attend and join this celebration with us.
Open Day at Westwood
On Friday 17th June, we held our annual 'Care Home Open Day'. The Barchester Foundation has recently awarded Spare Tyre a grant of £1,080 towards their garden sensory art project.
Spare Tyre is a charity located on Douglas Way, Deptford, which is quite local to our home. We invited Lynette Shanbury, the Executive Director to the open day so that we could meet her and present her with the cheque. The photo shows General Manager, Stella Bernatek, and Eve Parsons, Activity Coordinator, presenting the cheque to Lynnette.
Celebration of Life Service
On Saturday 18th June at 11:00am, we held a 'Celebration of Life Service' for the relatives of residents who used to live at Westwood House but have passed away. It was a beautiful service which was celebrated by our two local vicars who visit the home regularly. The relatives who came enjoyed the service and we all lit candles in honour of their loved ones and of all the residents of Westwood House. We then released some balloons with a card attached commemorating those we have lost.
Employee of the Month - May
Rechel Cole is our Employee of the Month for May. Rechel has been with us for a few years now and is reliable, caring, committed and has a keen eye for detail in all that she does.
April's Employee of the Month
Our employee of the month for April is one of our Carers, Ishika Mills. Ishika has been part of the team here at Westwood House since August 2009. Ishika is currently working towards her Care Practitioner qualification, and I am quite sure that she will be successful in achieving that in the next few months.
Ishika's nominations included comments, such as her always being "helpful in finding things", always giving "her best at work," and that "she is wonderful."
The Royal British Legion at Westwood
On Tuesday 9th February at 2.30pm we met with Emily Harris from the Royal British Legion who gave us a very interesting presentation about the British Legion, her role and what the British Legion offers. We had a look at some thought provoking photos and had a good discussion during the session. All who attended really enjoyed the talk and are keen to get more involved if possible!
Upcoming events
Countdown to Christmas
Counting down the days to Christmas with a fun filled month ahead and we extend a warm invitation for you to join us as we get into the festive spirit. Merry Christmas!
