We had an 80th Birthday to celebrate today at Buckingham House.  It was important to the person living us that they got to spend time and celebrate the day with their loved ones.  We provided a private space in our garden for her to host her party with a lovely afternoon tea menu and of course cake.

The people living with us and team joined St. James’ community for their monthly lunch gathering.  The people living with us really enjoy the opportunity to get out and socialise with other people.  As always the food and service was 5* and was really enjoyed by all.

Providing the people living with us an opportunity to have input into their menu at Buckingham House is so important to us.  We decided to organise a Menu Tasting at the home for the people living with us and their families to try some new flavours and ideas to see if they would like to have them on their menu.
The afternoon was a great success and the was enjoyed by all that attended.

At least once each week the people living us love to spend the morning baking. Whatever is baked is then served for afternoon tea to everyone living at the home.  Today, we are all going to enjoy a Victoria Sponge!

A room full of concentration and competitive minds.  Scrabble on one table, dominoes on the other, and plenty of residents having a pleasant afternoon together.

Making our Residents happy and fulfilling their wishes is what we are all here for at Kents Hill Care Home. 
And this time was no different. We went on a trip to our local garden centre where our Residents enjoyed an afternoon tea followed by a walk around the garden centre admiring all the plants and flowers. We had our minibus full of smiles on our return to the Home. Our Lifestyle team is busy preparing more outings for our Residents to enjoy, we might even go to the seaside!

So much fun was had when we did indoor bowling, just a day after receiving an excellent set of bowling equipment.  There was so much laughter and frequent cheers from the two teams as they played.  The residents named the teams themselves.  The red team being the Red Devils and the blue team being the Silly Beggars.  The atmosphere was wonderful, with an element of competition between the two teams.  Everyone wanted to know the final score at the end, and the Silly Beggars won by only 75 points. We're all looking forward to doing it again.

The people living with us enjoy getting ‘Out & about’ at some time every day (weather permitting) in the vast grounds of Gateford Hill. Everyone enjoyed the fresh air, scenery and nature.  Nicola, one of our lifestyle co-ordinators, writes the residents a poem for them to keep using the words they have expressed while enjoying being outside which is such a special and thoughtful thing to do.  

What a way to start our day!.  Gentle stretches and core strength exercises with Melanie who is brilliant at motivating and encouraging participation. Yoga balls are proving very popular in these sessions which sees the numbers increasing week on week. A fantastic way to boost energy, increase stability and balance and a great way to work up that appetite for lunch!.

Another cracking afternoon when much fun was had with a spot of outdoor bowls!.  'Just Bowl' is an innovative and exciting activity that encourages individuals of all ages, particularly those over 60 to get active.  Recent pilots that took place across several care homes showed that residents who participated in the programme felt the physical and mental benefits whilst improving their sense of well-being.   We had a fantastic amount of fun, friendly competition and of course ice lollies to keep us cool!.