This year, all our homes have been making the most of the festive season by celebrating Christmas in all our homes. Whilst we have not been able to party like it was 2019, everyone certainly made the most of this time and made sure to lift the spirits of our residents and staff while keeping safe. We hope that you enjoy the updates throughout December in the lead up to Christmas!
As we reflect on 2020, we are truly thankful to our staff who have made every effort to ensure that life in our homes continue as close to normal as possible. Evident from all the wonderful stories above, staff in every home have been able to keep everyone safe and happy. We are also thankful to the families of our residents, who have made a very difficult situation that much easier!
Stay tuned via our Facebook pages, Instagram and LinkedIn for more updates about what our homes are up to in the coming year!
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Beechwood House
Residents enjoyed a lovely Christmas Party organised by the Activity Coordinators. The festivities kicked off with a performance by the very talented staff member, Stacey, who dressed up as Tina Turner and do a half an hour parody performance, singing all of Tina Turner’s hits. The residents thoroughly enjoyed the performance and enjoyed singing along and dancing. Stacey’s performance raised £58.50 for the resident’s funds. The video is available on the Beechwood House Facebook page and to coin Tina Turner’s phrase… it’s simply the best!
As is usual with the annual Christmas party, there was a raffle however this year, on a much smaller scale. Some residents purchased raffle tickets and donated a few items raising a whopping £110 in total! All in all, whilst everyone really missed the large-scale festivities, staff and residents helped create an atmosphere of cheer and joy. Everyone had a lot of fun!
Brookvale House
This Christmas, the residents at Brookvale House have lots of festive themed fun and interactive daily activities planned, organised by our amazing Activities Co-Ordinator, Pansy Lynch. With everything from Christmas Bingo to Christmas quizzes, Me-Time-Monday and nail pampering to Brookvale Choir sing-along sessions… and of course our famous annual Christmas Party for all residents to enjoy and more! PLUS, a special appearance from the Highfield Church carol singers, intent on lifting our spirits and spreading some extra Christmas joy from our very own sensory garden. The Brookvale House staff have been working especially hard this year to help keep families connected despite obvious challenges. Relatives and their loved ones have therefore been able to connect regularly through video calling, window visiting and summerhouse visiting to maintain the strongest sense of normality possible and keeping everyone safe. From all at Brookvale House, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Cross Way House
Along with lots of other Christmas activities, staff at Cross Way House participated in Christmas Jumper Day this year. Below are a few pictures of Staff enjoying a little fashion show!
Mary Rose Manor
Mary Rose Manor held their annual Christmas Party for residents in the Bridge lounge on Tuesday 15th December.
The Christmas Party is normally one of our busiest and most popular events in the Home’s calendar, with most residents attending and many family members joining for the afternoon’s festivities. Due to the Covid restrictions, things were a little different this year, with no family members or friends able to join us.
The aim was to provide as much enjoyment as previous years and ensure residents had a jolly, fun filled few hours full of music, laughs and fun. The lounge was decorated in true festive fashion, with a large traditional Christmas tree, the large father Christmas ornament, plenty of fairy lights and finished with arts and craft decorations completed by the residents. As the residents entered and joined the party, we had traditional but upbeat Christmas music playing to set a merry atmosphere. The popular Mocktail trolley was ‘re-dressed’ in tinsel, Christmas signs and plenty of lights and offered Christmas themed mocktails.
Since there were no outside performers, the staff opted for the very popular karaoke to provide musical merriment. Staff members began singing along to popular Christmas songs to encourage the residents to join in. This confidence boost worked wonders as we spotted a normally very quiet lady singing along from the side lines. With a little praise and encouragement, she took the microphone and joined the staff, and carried on for 5 or 6 songs! Another resident asked if he could sing but wanted to sing an acapella version. We asked for quiet and waited…. a beautiful and heartfelt rendition of ‘Easter Morn’ could be heard throughout the ground floor and left us all very emotional and so very proud. When asked why he chose that song, he replied ‘it’s one of my favourites and it seemed a good time to share it with you all’.
As well as the karaoke, the festivities continued around the lounge. The team adapted a popular group activity for the event – skittles. Empty boxes had been collected, they were wrapped to look like presents and piled top of each other. Those residents who wanted to participate gave it their all to try and knock the ‘present skittles’ down. This physical activity was fantastic for those residents who did not take much interest in the singing but enjoyed games and social activities. The residents could be heard cheering and celebrating each other’s success and encouraging and supporting each other if shots were missed.
Another popular prop from previous events made a Christmas appearance – the photo frame! All decorated brightly in sparkly, textured materials the residents (and staff!) enjoyed posing for a photo, often with the Christmas tree as a backdrop.
Dotted around residents and staff could be seen wearing fabulous festive hats, very much getting into the party spirit! As the room filled and the residents relaxed, we encouraged dancing, singing along, and clapping of hands to increase participation and again, create a fun and jolly atmosphere.
As time went on and resident’s energy levels reduced, music changed to slightly slower songs to meet the mood but kept the party going. It worked beautifully as it had begun to get dark outside and the fairy lights all around now really stood out and with the three new, brightly lit Christmas trees outside shining. The lighting looked beautiful in the night sky, and residents commented on how lovely it looked. One resident mentioned that it reminded her of Christmas eve, as she used to turn the main light off and just leave fairy lights because her children found it more magical.
No party is ever complete without food and the kitchen team did not disappoint! As well as a delicious hot food selection, the kitchen had created the most beautiful supper trolleys, filled to the brim with Christmas sweets and treats as well as a fantastic cupcake tower with various flavours and many bright colours.
Ranvilles
It has been very busy at Ranvilles during this Christmas period! On Friday the 4th of December Ranvilles Nursing Home hosted Elf Day to raise money for Alzheimer’s society. There were a range of activities throughout the day. There was a visit from a cheeky little elf, who was later named Frosty! The residents took part in “Name the Elf” game and our lucky winner was Peggy who thoroughly enjoyed her tub of celebrations! Residents then decorated Christmas tree biscuits and made Christmas cards for loved ones and we also had an elf themed coloured cake for afternoon tea. Along with the residents, the staff had a great time! By the end of the day the dementia dog had enough of the elf’s shenanigan’s! Ranvilles managed to raise £75.00 for Alzheimer’s society
On Tuesday the 11th of December Ranvilles had the annual Christmas Party for the residents. It was a very different one to all the others as no relatives were able to participate however, all the residents and staff had a lovely time. To increase the festivities, Staff donned their Christmas t-shirts and jumpers and engaged with all the residents to raise spirits and encourage the festive cheer. A huge thank you to David Pepper who provided entertainment with musical instruments whilst donning full PPE behind our screens! Regardless of this he still put on a show for all the residents and staff who had a thoroughly wonderful afternoon. Kitchen staff worked tirelessly to provide a beautiful afternoon buffet which was gone by the evening!
Along with the parties and festivities, Ranvilles contacted two schools this year to see if they would be interested in making Christmas Cards for the residents. Ranvilles were overwhelmed with the dedication and time spent by the children at Ranvilles Junior School and Titchfield Primary School. The students created such wonderful, thoughtful gifts for our residents, including Cards, Letters, Pictures, Decorations. The messages in the cards were very emotional and heartwarming. Through this small act of kindness, we look forward to building a relationship with both schools going forward!
