Our stories

Peace of mind

Moving into a care home made easy

Our care team are here to make sure that making the move is as easy as possible for you and your loved one. If you still need reassurance, here are some stories from our residents, their families and our care team.

The clocks have changed and so has the weather - we all welcome the sunshine.

2nd - Good Friday - televised Church service at 3pm - hot cross buns for tea

4th - Easter Sunday - televised Church service at 10am - Easter egg deliveries - Easter lunch

April's Forthcoming Activities

As we stay hydrated through the lovely weather we are seeing we selected a variety of different waters to try from watermelon flavour, tonic, soda to our favourite being apple and elderflower, as we all know it is very important to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated.

Flavoured Water Tasting

Who doesn't enjoy cheese and crackers, today we had a selection of cheeses from cheddar to brie and halloumi accompanied by a variety of different crackers and chutneys, a delightful afternoon treat!

We have been busy planting bulbs indoors, we've chosen lillies to nurture ensuring they have enough water and sunlight to blossom we shall keep you updated with their progress.

Planting Indoor Bulbs

We are aiming to have a fantastic Easter this year and everyone in the home is super busy getting ready for the Easter celebration.

All the residents had lots of fun celebrating Red Nose Day, it was a busy day. There was pompom making from the crafty amongst us whilst other baked cakes. There was something for everyone with plenty of Red Nose themed activities through the day.

Sunday 21st March was World Poetry Day and to celebrate, Stanley, one of our activities team, hosted a poetry recital. Afterwards a group got together to create poetry of their own using different cut out words.

Everyone enjoys a good board game and at Abingdon Court we ensure that everyone can play if they wish, larger dice and counters make this easier. Residents also use the dice to throw which as well keeping the activities team on their toes is a great fun way to keep active.

Here at Belvoir Vale Care Homes, we had a beautiful sunny Thursday and took advantage of the sunshine by taking our reading group outside. We enjoyed listening to one of our residents reading out loud for us all to hear.

Stanley and Kirsty, our social and activities team dressed up in sparkly waistcoats and top hats to welcome residents to "A Day On Broadway." Everyone received an admission ticket and then as the lights went down there was an afternoon of famous Broadway clips accompanied by ice creams or popcorn

Our residents enjoying being outside in the beautiful weather with the duo Ian and Al singing some of our favourite songs for us. We all enjoyed getting out in the fresh air, celebrating the lovely weather with a sherry and donuts.

Beautiful Weather

With the weather warming and daffodils blooming, spring is definitely on its way. At Buckingham House we have a number of residents who are very adept at creating fresh flower centre pieces for the restaurant and who could resist daffodils?

We have started decorating hollow eggs ready for our Easter egg hunt on Monday. The residents used stickers and ribbon to decorate their chosen egg and filled the inside with small chocolate eggs.

Today we had an unexpected visit from Red Arrows flying over Buckingham House. They are always an amazing sight and never fail to generate excitement. We were all delighted and this prompted lots of chats and reminiscing about the past long after they had roared overhead.

Red Arrows Surprise Fly Past

Here at Thorntree Mews we wanted to do something to take part in the National Day of Reflection and had a sign created and tied to the railing in yellow ribbon to symbolise a year since the first lockdown.

National Day Of Reflection

Our Under the Sea theme week was extended by a couple of extra days as we had to postpone our singer last week. However, we finished on a high note with beautiful sunshine for our singer Paul Martin.

The residents have been making some Easter treats for the children in our community called Chicks for the community! The residents have been sticking googly eyes onto a lollipop, an orange beak and a feather for some hair to make their own lollipop chicks.

Chicks for the Community

After a game of bingo, Arnold celebrates as he won a bag of marshmallows, which he then kindly asked to be shared with all the residents. I think, hot chocolate and marshmallows in the making.

Arnold's Bingo Winnings

At Cedar Court our residents are getting ready to wear their Easter Bonnets. They did such an excellent job we thought we should share it with you all. All the bonnets are on display in our reception until Easter, it makes us feel joyful just looking at them. Spring is in the air!

This week leading up to Easter the Knights Court Activities team got out all things eggy, fluffy, furry & orange for our Easter Arts and Crafts workshop!

Easter Preparations!

Our cinema room has been completely transformed into a magical under the sea kingdom, with various schools of fish, jellyfish, seahorses, sunken treasure guarded by Pirate Pete and a very friendly, if not very startled looking octopus.

Under The Sea Kingdom

With our hairdressers unable to visit the staff at Bowerfield Court have ensured the people living with us still get some much needed pamper time. A visit to our inhouse hair salon is a great way to spend a morning.

We recognised the first day of Holy week and the Sunday before Easter here at Bowerfield Court by making traditional palm crosses. Thank you to St Ambrose Catholic

Church in Adswood for the donation of the palms.

The residents enjoyed an afternoon of making some Easter cards.

Easter Card Making

Today we played 'The Word Game'. The residents created a total of 200 words just from 1 word.

On Friday the residents had a games day with a variety of games on offer including giant snakes. Our resident (pictured) was the eventual winner, well done Pat!

Games Day at The Hawthorns

We had a games afternoon at Belmont. The residents had a lot of fun and enjoyed playing the different games such as dominos, scrabble, bingo and snakes and ladders.

Games Afternoon

Terry Williams came to our home and performed an amazing outdoor concert for us. This was enjoyed by all.

Outdoor Concert

Here at Belmont, some of our residents did some craft work with Gee in the Plaza.

Crafts with Gee

Here are a few pictures of our Easter raffle goodie hampers.

Rita is making up goodie bags for the community centres.

Community Centre Goodie Bags

Emma James singing for us despite the chilly air outside.

Residents were also donated a daffodil when they were leaving the concert area.

Emma James Outdoor Performance

The residents trailed out some new exercise bands on Thursday. They are partly made from cotton so easier to grip and softer on the hands. The residents did brilliantly doing more formal exercises like bicep curls and experimented with their own movement.

Exercise's at The Hawthorns

We used our fine motor skills today to pop the silicone bubbles. The residents took it in turns to use their fingers and thumbs to push the bubbles through to the other side.

Popping Silicone Bubbles

We had an American Day at Mary Chapman Court 50's style. Starting the day off with what else but Grease which was a song-a-long special edition. We were also treated to cheeseburgers, hot dogs, curly fries, and

Our residents painted birds which we attached to twigs of handmade blossom to decorate the lounge.

Bird Decoration

Ay Wyndham Hall we are very fortunate that the people we care for share their memories and stories with us, it's such a privilege and a special time. Recently we sat with Hilary and went through her beautiful album and reminisced about the good old days!

Memories at Wyndham Hall

There is no time to rest at Wyndham Hall .

So many of us have friends and/or family that live in Ireland and as such St Patrick's Day was never going to quietly pass us by. This is us raising a glass to wish love and friendship and, to everyone we know "May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow.

St Patrick Day Celebrations at Parkview

Friday 12th March was Mauritian National Day and we wanted to celebrate in style. One of the ladies who we care for, Kathy (Kanteeamah) was born in Goodlands in Mauritius and the team dressed up as airline crew and in national dress and we accompanied her on a virtual flight to Mauritius.

Mauritian National Day

World Book Day was celebrated in style at Brunel House with a Mad Hatters tea party. The staff team as usual were amazing dressing up as their favourite characters from books whilst the residents enjoyed reminiscing about their favourite childhood books.

World Book Day at Brunel

The chicks are now six days old and growing fast! The residents are thoroughly enjoying their time with them and for some this is the first time that they have actually felt or held a chick. We are so pleased that we have been able to offer this unique experience.

Allingham House celebrated Red Nose Day with a Fundraising Coffee Morning. Staff from different departments collaborated baking delicious cupcakes, biscuits and chocolate brownies. Later on, Activities Staff sold them to raise money for Comic Relief.

Red Nose Day Fundraiser

Our sensory room here at Bowerfield Court offers a wide variety of sensory stimulation for our residents. The multi coloured lights are visually appealing and, coupled with the aroma of essential oils and music, help to create a relaxed and calm environment. Pamper sessions are also available.

This week at Highfield we decided to mix our celebration for Red Nose Day with baking! Most of our residents got involved and loved baking in preparation for Red Nose Day. We made a beautiful sponge cake which was delicious!

Red Nose Day Celebrations

To prepare for St Patrick's day, we coloured in some themed pictures to make into bunting to decorate the home! It was great fun and showed off everyone's different tastes, and they looked fantastic when they were up!

St Patrick's Day Perperations!

Several members of staff at Ashmead Care Centre took time from their busy schedule to remember those lost during recent times to the Covid 19 virus.

We celebrated Mothers Day with lots of flowers, chocolates and afternoon tea here at Troutbeck.

Mother's Day at Troutbeck

We celebrated St Patrick's Day with Irish Cream Liquor, Guinness and lots of Irish music.

St Patrick's Day Celebrations

Mary celebrated her 100th birthday, she had a lovely day with a long awaited visit from her sister.

Mary's 100th Birthday