Colchester Castle Walk & Talk

This week's Walk and Talk was amazing!

With the gorgeous little legs from Butterfly Barns Day Nursery - very adept at playing hop little bunny and pushing a wheelchair, along with residents, staff, friends and family from and Woodland View Care Home we strolled in the sunshine learning all about the history of the castle thanks to the incredibly knowledgeable Di Bignell from Colchester Heritage Tours. We learnt so much but thankfully there was no exam to complete!

Then as we entered the Colchester Museums Castle we were immediately in awe of the brand new display there. The travelling Gaia globe artworkhttps://colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/events/gaia/. It is beyond stunning.

We were treated like VIPs by Holly and Tom who gave us even more of a history lesson while enjoying a cuppa in what we thought was the lunch room, but turned out to be the site of the ex-jailors house! Thankfully none of us were detained and we continued the morning chariot racing and making a wish on a lucky statue.

Thank you to absolutely everyone who made today possible.

One of our favourite events is our cultural days! Residents love trying the different food, learning about cultures and watching dancing or presentations.

This month it was the turn of Africa! We celebrated the culture and food from Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Residents had a traditional African lunch, then in the afternoon, staff and families were invited to eat, and join in the fun with residents. Our fabulous staff members Jennifer, Joy, Ope, Caltas and Darius treated us to a traditional dance with some really upbeat and fun African music.

Ope then went on to show us a slideshow and tell us all the traditions and cultures. It was such a lovely, fun and informative day. Many thanks to our staff for always going above and beyond for our residents and families, on all our cultural days.

We held our pudding club with tempting and delicious desserts made by our Head Chef Iuliana, and other talented staff. The Mayor of Colchester was delighted to receive an invitation, and loved spending time with residents enjoying some traditional and cultural desserts from Hungary and India.

The Mayor, Lesley Scott-Boutell said how much she loved the idea of reminiscing about puddings and sharing recipes, commenting that "It must really give the residents a sense of community and to share a loved family recipe, is such a special thing to do"

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!!

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 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.