Activities at Wood Grange Care Home

For World Fashion day our residents expressed their creative side, they took part in a fashion illustration workshop and created designs fit for London Fashion Week.  The residents had a great time and were surprised with the designs that they came up with, one resident was very impressed with the high heels they had drawn. The residents shared ideas and laughed together, this was a really successful group activity.  The Activities Coordinator passed on techniques learnt from her day at London School of Fashion and shared storied of that time.

Daniel McAllen at Wood Grange Care Home in Bourne has been crowned Learner of the Year for the North NE Division in the Barchester Care Awards 2023 and is through to the national round of judging.

The Barchester Care Awards celebrate the staff who go the extra mile for the benefit of the 13,000 residents living in Barchester’s 252 care homes and private hospitals across the country. Categories range from ‘Registered Nurse of the Year’ and ‘Carer of the Year’ to ‘Dementia Care Champion’ and ‘Activities Coordinator of the Year’.

Across of homes residents had a fantastic time during a special live virtual event, led by Jennifer and Emily from Dogs Trust, the UK's largest dog welfare charity. Jennifer and Emily took us on a journey to discover the rich history of Dogs Trust and their facilities.

Using captivating video and photo footage, our residents were able to explore rehoming centres and learn more about the highest level of welfare offered there. It was a delightful experience for everyone, especially our dog lovers.

Staff, residents, relatives and the local community came together at Wood Grange to enjoy a Summer Fete that was held in the home’s grounds on the 25th June.

We hosted a variety of activities throughout the day, including singing from Melody Flyte, Line Dancers from The Grapeviners in which visitors of  all ages had a go, Kids Corner, Cake Competition, Tombola and local small buisnesses selling a variety of goods. It was enjoyed by everyone who came to the event.

Staff at Wood Grange made everyone feel welcome and were delighted to see different generations having fun together. Visitors enjoyed plenty of refreshments, such as Pimms, Nozecco, and platters of nibbles prepared by the catering team and volunteers who were hard at work making sure that a great time was had by all – it really was a team effort!

Resident, Janet  said, “I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a very good Fete, the entertainment was very good and enjoyed by all.

Across our services we had a lovely time joining Rhiannon Watkinson from the RAF Museum London for an interactive talk exploring the exciting and innovative aviation history of Hendon.

Our residents were able to learn about the first flights from the fields at Hendon, the creation of the London Aerodrome and Battle of Britain pilots who flew from RAF Hendon.

The talk also included photographic and film material from the Museum’s archive. Residents across our homes had a fantastic time and we truly enjoyed the virtual experience.

Today (Sunday 4th June) we granted a wish from one of our residents here at Wood Grange, Barry Hughes.  Barry is a retired mechanic who worked at St. Michaels Motors in Stamford and has ridden motorbikes most of his life.  He talks about bikes and old friend almost every day, we decided for the lead up to Barry’s 88th birthday we would reach out to the local biking community, and what a great response we received.

The activities coordinator reached out on social media to see if anyone could help grant Barry’s wish to ride a bike one day, with the help from Trevor Clarke and Tom Allen who are both part of the Bourne Lincolnshire Bikers Facebook Group set up an event called, ‘Make an Old Biker Smile’.  In response to this we also received a message from Steve Warcup who offered to take Barry for a spin on his Honda Goldwing.  The staff kept this as a surprise and on the day we took Barry along with other residents out the front to see around 50 bikes appear! It was amazing!

Not only did he get to meet the wonderful biking community, he caught up with old friends/colleagues Les Kirby and Herbie, he went for his spin on the Goldwing with Steve Warcup, then it all ended with a display of revving up the engine of a Honda, a Mike Hailwood replica. This event was enjoyed by all, families with young children came, visitors of residents enjoyed it too.

Barry said, “the bike people are good people, I have had a wonderful day”