Activities at Woodland View Care Home
Activities at Woodland View
Woodland View is passionately committed to providing residents with a varied choice of entertainment, social, health and well being, craft and relaxation based activities.
Activities will all be meaningful and based on the likes of residents and will continue to evolve depending on our residents. The activities provided will also include involvement from other local community based organisations and are open to all residents, family and friends of residents. Our activities will be facilitated by staff from all departments as well as invited guests. Families are also enthusiastically encouraged to play a part in activities when possible.
There will always be at least one person at every activity who has been DBS checked to ensure the safeguarding of our residents. The dignity of our residents and our respect for them is at the centre of everything we do, each and every day.
We are always reviewing and changing our schedule of activities to be a centre of excellence and actively invite feedback and suggestions for new and meaningful activities and ideas.
Petra Hardman
Hi my name is Petra and I'm the Activities Coordinator here at Woodland View. I love seeing the difference that activities can make to each individual, and finding out what interests they have and ensure I incorporate that into our activities here.
I love music and drama coming from a musical background as a singer all over the country, music is important to me and I feel it makes such a difference to everyone, it evokes memories, and creates happiness. I also love to boost residents self esteem by creating pampering sessions and having one to one time to relax and reminisce.
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 Woodland View Care Home
VE Day Celebrations
Residents enjoyed our VE Day crafting and celebrations.
Our home was decorated in all communities with bunting and vintage posters.
We also held crafting activities making flags and held reminiscing sessions.
Residents discussed which shelter they had at the time of war, some had an "Anderson Shelter" which was placed at the bottom of a suburban garden, and was made out of corrugated iron.
Some residents said they had "Morrison Shelters" which had a wooden top, and doubled as a kitchen table.
Residents spoke of their memories of VE Day, the happiness, the celebrations, the street parties.
To celebrate VE Day, we also had the talented Tracy, who sang a selection of 1940's songs.
The "icing on the cake" however, was a fabulous traditional Victoria sponge made by our Head Chef! This put a smile on everyone's face while listening to the music, it was delicious!!
Dementia Action Week
To mark Dementia Action Week, staff and residents at Woodland View were delighted to be gifted beautiful branded memory boxes filled with retro Cadbury chocolate bars.
This inspirational idea came about through Cadbury’s work with Alzheimer’s Research UK, following requests from care homes and dementia support groups to the Cadbury archives for packaging no longer in circulation. Alongside Alzheimer’s Research UK, Cadburys is working to create a nostalgic experience for those living with dementia, featuring iconic Dairy Milk bars, from as far back as 1915.
The ‘Memory Bars’ form part of a wider package in the style of a memory box, which also features a digital download link, where people can find extra content, including classic posters and past packaging from other Cadbury products. Residents enjoyed sampling the chocolate, and watching a virtual event celebrating 200 years, and all the history, along with a virtual quiz.
Mental Health Awareness Week
Mental Health Awareness Week took place from Monday 13 until Sunday 19 May. The Mental Health Foundation started Mental Health Awareness Week 23 years ago and it has grown to become one of biggest awareness weeks both across the UK and globally. This year’s theme is ‘Movement: Moving more for our mental health’ which examines how important movement is for our mental health.
The staff and residents got into the spirit of the week by sharing their stories, discussing their own mental health, and how it helps them to move whether that is walking, dancing, yoga or an armchair exercise session. Residents also took trips to local garden centres, enjoying coffee, cake and reminiscing about bygone days. At Colchester Castle, residents enjoyed looking at all the artefacts, and spending time with residents from other local care homes.
Baking Club, making Easter treats
We have been busy making sweet treats here at Woodland View at our baking club, as after all that's what Easter is all about!
Residents wanted to do crispy nests, filled with chocolate eggs, as we enjoyed reminiscing about making these with our own children. We spoke about rationing, and how unless you went through this you didn't realise how hard this was.
Although the chocolate was in full supply with residents and staff feeding each other, everyone found this really funny!
Our baking club is gaining more popularity, with residents giving us ideas of recipes they would like to bake.
Culture Day – Our visit to Thailand
As part of our monthly cultural days, this week we travelled to Thailand, with our lovely Senior Carer Sita and Care Practitioner Maddie, alongside our fabulous kitchen team! 🇹🇭
Residents, families, staff and visitors were treated to a sample of Thai cuisine. The menu consisted of Tom Kha Soup , Massaman Chicken Curry, Mixed Vegetable Stir fry, and Banana in Coconut dessert.
Pictures of Thailand, cultural dress, customs and food were displayed in the coffee lounge, and Sita, Maddie and Iulia, our Head Chef all wore Thai outfits, alongside traditional Thai accessories.
Thankyou to Sita, Maddie, Iulia and all our wonderful staff!
Next month we travel to the
Philippines with Maria, Franz and Philip! We can't wait!!
Husband and Wife win community competition
Today our resident Gordon and his wife Norma went on the mini-bus to enjoy an Afternoon Tea of fresh sandwiches, scones and cake, all with a pot of tea, and a choice of wine or Prosecco!
Our lucky couple won a competition held by Stanway Lakelands Centre, part of the ALB (Colchester Anti-Loo Roll Brigade) which our Activity Team entered for them. The competition asked for the couple who has been married the longest, and Gordon and Norma will have been married for 68 years in September!
They both had a lovely time, meeting Centre Manager Alisha, and ALB founder Peter Dutch, discussing where they met, and married, the secret to a long and happy marriage, and football teams they support!
Gordon said the secret to a happy marriage is "Doing as he’s told!"
What a lovely afternoon, it was lovely to be out in our local community, and a huge Thank you to all involved
