Here at Appletree we have done some crafts and lots of other creative activities. The residents get lots of satisfaction in doing the projects as they do looking at the end product.
Residents helped make a cardboard cut-out into an ice cream van to go on one of our trollies.
On each floor the residents had the chance to paint the van a colour of the choice with help from staff.
This also gave residents time to reminisce about all the different ice creams they were able to get as kids from the ice cream van.
Everybody loved this activity!

To celebrate Euro 2021 here at Appletree we had a little history on the game and shared our memories. We asked our residents “Where were you in 1966?”
Some of the responses we got were:

“We had a little black and white television everybody in the street sat in our sitting room to watch the game.”

“We saved up all year for a camping trip to Wales, however when England got to the final my husband made his pack up and left so he could watch the football instead.”

June birthday celebrations are very exciting. People born in June are effortlessly attractive. Born on the cusp of spring and summer, June babies are often outgoing and friendly. They are giving and forgiving. Most people born in June fall under the sign of Gemini, which means they frequently see both sides of an argument and are very balanced and fair.

Here at Abingdon Court, we appreciate that Fathers Day has different meanings to the people who live here. Therefore, we decided to dedicate the day to honouring the male figures in our lives who have helped to shape who we are today. It was a great pleasure and a real joy to be able to invite some family members into our garden as we hosted a socially distanced, COVID secure, Fathers Day lunch.

Throughout Abingdon Court, there is a shared love and admiration for the royal family. The Queen in particular, has had a huge impact on many lives, and royal stories evoke loving and heartfelt memories for lots of people. To celebrate the Queen’s birthday, we decided to have some fun and made a Queen themed picture bingo game. Many enjoyed rediscovering old photos and shared stories of what they were doing during events such as her Coronation.

As we enter the summer months, everybody is falling into that summer holiday feeling. With most of us unable to jet off anywhere any time soon, we opened up Abingdon Airlines and brought the holiday to our home! Boarding passes were delivered to people’s rooms, ready for them to board the flight to Canada later that afternoon. We feasted on pancakes with Canadas most famous maple syrup (plus other delicious toppings) whilst we watched videos which explored different areas of the Canadian landscape.

One of the ladies who lives with us was telling us all about her life working in the fashion sector throughout her youth and how she loved following the trends and seeing what new and innovative pieces were being developed by the big fashion houses. This inspired our Activities Coordinator, Stanley to dig through some Vogue editorial archives to share with her. She was excited to revisit these images and commented on how she noticed these old trends returning in the modern day.

Being able to use our minibus to bring people who live with us to the seaside and seeing the expressions of joy on their faces has been incredible. These little trips have really been such a benefit to the people that live with us here in the home giving them a real opportunity to experience the beach again. Even though it was a windy day it was still warm enough to have an ice cream whilst watching the sea!

The rain may have been pouring outside but inside Kings Manor things were heating up with some healthy competition playing bowling. It was a popular activity with people joining the team in the ground floor lounge for the afternoon of bowling followed by refreshments.

Our gardener Seth who has spent some time developing the garden to include areas that people living with us can eat from, he has planted plum, pear and apple trees that are already starting to grow. He has also planted strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, rhubarb and more in the raised planters for the people who live with us to enjoy. The garden which is now in full bloom was missing some bee hotels we felt and so the people living at the home joined him to build some.