Ladies and gentlemen, we are very pleased to introduce an additional PAT dog, who will be calling in to see residents at Woodland View on a regular basis.

Spirit is a beautiful 3 year old Golden Retriever and recently stopped by with owner, Christine, to introduce himself to residents. They'll both have their first formal visit on Tuesday 15th August and Spirit has already won the hearts of everyone he met during his introduction.

Spirit joins the growing number of animal-based interaction sessions currently enjoyed by all residents. 

Volunteer, Colin Bennett, walked into Woodland View on the morning of Monday 31st July to play the piano for residents, as he does each week, and got a bit of a surprise!

On display in the reception area was a pop-up banner with Colin's name on it. Colin has been visiting Woodland View as a volunteer, most Monday's, for well over a year. He and his little dog, Martha, are firm favourites with residents, especially those on the Memory Lane community. Colin was nominated by a number of residents and staff for the Barchester Care Awards 'Volunteer of the Year' award and won the divisional round. He will now go through to the finals later in the year.

During his morning session on the piano, he was congratulated on this achievement and everyone gave him a round of applause. He was very surprised but very pleased at the recognition, thanking everyone who voted for him.

Good luck, Colin, in the next round - you're already a champion winner to everyone at Woodland View.

Woodland View residents got a very unusual visit from a feathered friend, Twilight the barn owl.

Just over a year old and already very accustomed to visiting care homes in the area, Twilight made room to room visits for one-to-one time with residents. Twilight was stroked gently by most who she visited, with one resident's reaction being very funny as Twilight came into view: "WOW, OH WOW! WOW! OH MY WORD, WOW!" was exclaimed, with the widest-eyed expression ever seen, followed by the biggest smile, which was lovely to see.

Twilight will be visiting Woodland View on a regular basis, having had such a possessive impact on everyone.

After a week full of contributions from a fantastic team of young men, who anyone could and should be proud of, they said goodbye to all of the residents with a farewell concert. Residents really appreciated the time, energy and enthusiasm shown by the team during the week and we feel sure it will be talked about by everyone with fond memories for some time to come.

A number of people from the team, who have already established themselves as volunteers at Woodland View, will be returning on a regular basis after the summer.

A team of 3 young men from the NCS called into to residents' rooms to serenade them with a favourite tune or two. The response to the performances, which included songs by George Harrison (Here Comes The Sun), Elvis (Love Me Tender) and Ben. E. King (Stand By Me), was heartwarming, with a number of tears being shed amongst the big smiles. Staff were also moved to tears as they witnessed the reaction. It was a wonderful morning of very special moments.

The National Citizen Service recently contacted Woodland View and asked if we could help support this year’s 2 week NCS project - and we said, "of course!" A team of enthusiastic young men worked during their second week of the project at Woodland View.

On this particular day, the young men supplied a range of cakes, some of which they'd made themselves, as part of an afternoon tea for residents. Furthermore, they hosted an afternoon of bingo - a firm favourite - awarding prizes to those who won the games.