As spring finally gets underway, resident, Sylvia Davies, and Activities Coordinator, Kevin Riley, take advantage of the sunshine to get some practice in on court. The ball speeds faster than the blink of the eye… and actually a lot faster than those holding the rackets.

Whilst this is great exercise as a regular weekly activity (which is normally indoors), and enjoyed by a number of residents, including those who play in wheelchairs, anyone watching will already know that these two Wimbledon wannabes actually have more in common with Great Uncle Bulgaria and Madame Cholet than with Andy Murray and Billie Jean King!

As we all know, it’s not about the winning, it’s about the participating and strawberries and cream. Just as well, eh?!

As part of our National Dementia Awareness Week, Woodland View Care Home received an appearance from a very special guest.

Multi-award winning, world class guitarist Antonio Forcione accepted the invitation to come and perform to residents on Friday 20th May in support of Dementia Awareness Week, prior to a concert he would be holding in the area that evening.

Paul McCartney himself is quoted as saying that Antonio has "a beautiful touch" to his guitar playing.

Antonio played a selection of tunes - a mix of his own beautiful compositions, in addition to his versions of tunes that residents would be more familiar with.

Following his performance, Antonio also took time to talk with residents, discussing their life and their own music experiences. A donation is also being made to Dementia UK in recognition of Antonio’s support. Antonio really enjoyed the afternoon with residents and said that he'd be happy to visit Woodland View again.

Should you wish to find out more about Antonio and his music, please visit www.antonioforcione.com

After 2 marathon semi-finals featuring 36 songs, lots of flag waving, voting and pressing of buzzers to move on to the next song, residents of Woodland View were ready to take on the challenge of watching highlights from the grand final and the 26 songs!

The mood was tense; each resident was eyeing the other with a determined look. You could almost smell the competitiveness in the air. Score sheets and pens at the ready, buzzers on the table, flags in hand. Everyone was prepared and ready for the final race to the finishing line and resulting glory.

Resident Bert Bone - an absolute gentleman - looked as stunned and surprised as anyone else when he realised he had the winning country. Not so much because it was his, but because nobody in the room ever thought Ukraine stood a chance. It was one of the songs during the semi-finals that everyone taking part had buzzed to stop! It just goes to show that, as they say, it’s not over until the fat lady sings (the lady singing the Ukraine song wasn’t actually fat and we’re sure that phrase is not very PC anyway!). Bert accepted that the real trophy had to go to the singer for Ukraine and was happy to receive a large box of chocolates instead. There’s little chance of him handing his prize over to next year’s winner!

Residents are already talking about next year’s contest and plans are afoot to make things even more slick and fun than this year. This year was a mix of Eurovision and Britain’s Got Talent; next year an element of The Voice will be added to the mix. We will leave you to imagine what part from The Voice we will be introducing. There are already demands that our Woodland View judges from this year be employed as sole judges for the real contest in 2017, as they did a better job at selecting the best songs to go through to the final.

Who said Eurovision was boring? No one here at Woodland View...

Senior Carer, Tom Young, was named Woodland View's Employee of the Month for April.

Residents, staff and colleagues nominated Tom because they thought he deserved extra recognition for all of the amazing work that he does.

Well done, Tom!

On Saturday, we had the most amazing afternoon; our local Orwell Singers came in to sing for us at Woodland View, but this was also an added occasion for one of our residents, Sylvia Davies, who was a pianist that played with them over 30 years ago. This was truly a reunion and a delight for Sylvia.

The Orwell Singers is a friendly, female choir based in Ipswich. They rehearse weekly throughout the year. The choir's repertoire covers a wide range of music, including popular melodies, songs from television & film, spirituals and well-known classical pieces.

It was an afternoon of beautiful singing that was enjoyed by everyone.

The Eurovision Song Contest is a huge event that is popular all over the world - and Woodland View Care Home in Colchester. So, how can we make it even better? On Wednesday 11th May, the ladies and gentlemen living at Woodland View got their first taste of ‘Euro-Woodland Vision 2016’. Armed with flags and score sheets, our judges were ready!

Following the broadcast of the 1st Semi-Final on Tuesday 10th May, the rather long show was edited down to just 18 songs. Of those 18 songs, only 10 can make it through to Saturday's grand final. Residents got to view and then vote for themselves which songs they thought were good enough to score and make it through, regardless of what happened on the official show.

To add to the fun, Woodland View went that one step further…

As part of the scoring process, residents were split into two teams, each with its own Britain’s Got Talent-style buzzer. If both teams buzzed during the playback of a song, it was skipped and we all moved on to the next one.

And Simon Cowell thinks he's harsh?!

The 2nd semi-final will be broadcast live on Thursday evening, and residents are already looking forward to the second bout of judging the edited highlights of that show on the following afternoon, as they select their choice of the next 10 of 18 songs to make it through to Saturday's grand final.

Saturday's grand final will feature a total of 26 songs, including the UK entry, and residents are already excitedly talking about the fun they’ll be having at Monday’s Euro-Woodland Vision Contest Grand Final, right here at Woodland View in Colchester.

We will, of course, keep you updated on our progress of our contest and who our judges finally crown as winner for 2016.