There was a lovely treat at Brook House Care Home as Creative Mojo was back for another visit. Linda from Creative Mojo helped the residents to prepare for Care Home Open Day, which the home is celebrating on June 28th. Residents enjoyed being able to show off their creative instincts by creating colourful letter designs, which they especially loved painting. This turned out to be a lovely activity for them as they were inspired to create some wonderful artwork.

After they had finished their work. it was pieced together to create a special banner for the upcoming event. The residents of Brook House loved being able to create their own unique decorations and are already looking excited for the next visit from Creative Mojo, as well as the chance to prepare for Care Home Open Day later this month.

Posted by Excelcare

Posted by Excelcare

At Buchan House Care Home in Cambridge, preparations are well underway towards opening their doors to their local community for National Care Home Open Day, which is taking place on Friday 28th June 2019.

The theme for this year is arts in care, so the people living at Buchan House have been busy decorating colourful butterflies to decorate their walls! The group are hoping to fill their home with their colourful creations, several ladies have been spending time relaxing in the Sunflower lounge while decorating as many Butterflies as they can!

The care home has lots of things planned for the big day, including music, face painting, afternoon tea and much more. Lifestyle Coordinator Kathryn Adams has been organising the event and is keen to get people of all ages involved in the fun! “We’ll be celebrating between 10am – 4pm on the day, and lunch will be served for everyone to enjoy at 12:30pm. Absolutely everyone is welcome to celebrate with us, and we are excited to show our visitors what Buchan House is all about!”

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On Saturday 1st June, residents at St Fillans had a delightful surprise visit from Tilly, a beautiful border collie. Volunteers from PAT (Pets as Therapy) visit care homes with their own pets to bring joy, comfort and companionship to many individuals who appreciate being able to touch and stroke a friendly animal.

Tilly, who loves to be spoiled, is a frequent visitor to the care home, many residents look forward to her visits as they say it really brightens up their day. Not only are dogs great non-judgemental listeners, they also encourage physical interaction and their companionship has been proven to boost positivity in older people.

With cuddles and the odd treat getting Tilly’s tail wagging; it’s safe to say the excitement is mutual! The group really enjoyed Tilly’s visit and are already asking the team at St Fillans when she will be returning again!

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Etheldred House Care Home recently organised an afternoon of puzzles and painting for the people who live there. For Excelcare’s Lifestyle Coordinators, arranging engaging and meaningful activities for people is important as it helps to enrich their lives each day, providing opportunities for fun and social engagement. Jigsaw puzzles have been proven to provide a ‘brain workout’ for people of all ages; for older people research has found that completing a jigsaw can help with coordination and dexterity, as well as improving visual recognition and short-term memory. Alan and Robin, who live at Etheldred House, passed the time by completing a jigsaw puzzle together, they both shared a laugh as they were very competitive, racing to find the right piece to fit in each gap!

In the meantime Shirley and Irene enjoyed a creative painting session, completing beautiful watercolour and acrylic floral and foliage pieces. Both ladies are known for their love of all things arty; Shirley showed off her creative side by drawing her own line-work and completing each piece in colourful paints, while sharing some tips and tricks with Irene and Mounia, Etheldred’s Lifestyle Coordinator. Shirley often spends time admiring the view of Etheldred’s garden, using her ideas to inspire a new piece of art. Irene often joins Shirley for creative sessions and enjoys sharing art she has created previously with her friends and family, which she has proudly displayed in her room!

Everyone agreed how lovely it was to laugh and socialise over such fun activities, and how they look forward to more paintings and puzzles very soon!

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This week residents from The Willows Care Home joined in with Bat & Chat, a local dementia friendly event which was held by Milton Keynes Council as part of Dementia Action Week.

Residents had a wonderful time, enjoying a game or two of ping pong and catching up with the local community in the sunshine. To top it all off, Beryl & Suzanne won top prize (pictured with their trophy)! They were very excited and returned to The Willows buzzing and excited to tell everyone about their achievement; everyone is very proud of them!

The event organisers kindly gifted the group with a supply of the bats so that they can now play whenever they wish, using the table in their community area.

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This week residents of Lime Court Care Home enjoyed another of their regular arts & crafts session with Helen from Creative Mojo. The group showed off their creative sides by painting their own individual designs of chickens, butterflies and flowers.  Their work was then added together to create a wonderful finished farmyard ‘chicken coup’ piece.

Everyone at Lime Court thoroughly enjoys Helen’s visits and they are already looking forward to their next artistic endeavour with Creative Mojo!

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The residents of Rheola Care Home had a fantastic afternoon as they took part in a general knowledge quiz. The quiz was taken from the Daily Sparkle and featured many challenging questions for the group to debate, many of which were associated with the 1940’s-1960’s era. The residents loved taking part and enjoyed reminiscing and chatting away. One resident, Anthony, particularly enjoyed joking around with Lifestyle Coordinator Kirsty by coming up with his own questions to try and throw her off!

It was a fantastic afternoon and the residents all did very well, and enjoyed some wonderfully stimulating conversations in the process. Meanwhile they enjoyed tea, biscuits and other light refreshments. The residents and team members had so much fun with this activity and are already looking forward to more quiz sessions very soon!

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In celebration of the May bank holiday, residents of Buchan House Care Home enjoyed the benefits of bingo as they took part in a number of games. Bingo always proves a popular activity at Buchan House, where the group often invite their friends to play a few rounds. Residents enjoyed refreshments as they chatted away, with one resident commenting “I have a good feeling about this!” as the first round began!

Bingo is a firm favourite, and provides an excellent opportunity for those living at Buchan House to relax and unwind. The game is also a good way of keeping minds active, as well as helping the group to meet new people through those who visit for the regular bingo sessions.

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The people living at Hunters Down were excited to take part in a highly anticipated boat cruise, as they were taken for a ride on a boat named ‘The Ladybird’. Residents of the care home enjoy these boat trips along the river twice a year. The group were thrilled to see the morning sunshine as they boarded at Hartford Marina, ready to set sail at 11 ‘o’ clock. They cruised down the river Ouse towards St Ives, enjoying a nice chat, while admiring the beautiful scenery of the river banks and the wildlife.

The atmosphere during the trip was very relaxed and calm, particularly with the beautiful blue skies overhead. Everyone enjoyed a picnic lunch prepared for them by the Hunters Down Chefs. After this, they all joined in to sing happy birthday to Eric, a resident who was celebrating his birthday on the day!

The residents of Hunters Down created some amazing memories on this journey, and residents personally said thank you to the team for organising such a wonderful trip for them. It was truly an unforgettable experience for everyone.

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