Barton Lodge Celebrates Indian Culture

27th March 2024/in Uncategorised /by rizwan_user

We are so lucky to have such diverse cultures at Barton Lodge, and it was wonderful to unite earlier this year in celebration of the vibrant Indian culture.

We are thrilled our residents enjoyed a day filled with joy, celebration and discovery, embracing the rich diversity within our community.

Our incredible staff created a fun action-packed day for our residents. We spent the morning learning about Indian traditions, festivals, family life and food. It was lovely to see our passionate and enthusiastic staff really captivating our residents’ attention, as they thoroughly enjoyed the day.

We treated our lovely residents to an exquisite Indian feast, of beef or vegetable curry, with rice and poppadoms, while everyone shared their experiences and cherished memories of holidays spent in India.

The staff made the day really special by making table decorations for our Indian lunch, including elephant table mats with intricate designs. It was fantastic to hear our residents share tales of their times in India and was wonderful reminiscence therapy.

In the afternoon our amazing staff dressed up in their saris, dressing some of our residents as well, before dancing around the home to show everyone.

We’re delighted to have received such amazing feedback from our residents, with Mary remarking: “What beautiful and colourful outfits the girls were wearing. So much effort they all made for us to enjoy” and Rosemary adding: “It was like being on holiday in India.”

The day left a lasting impression on our residents, with Jean reflecting: “It was something very different to see and learn” and Geoff concluding: “We have learnt so much about Indian culture today. It’s been amazing!”

Our Activities Coordinators, Jenny and Barbara said: “The staff showed the residents how extremely proud they are of their country and culture, we all had a lovely day. It was fantastic to share this experience together. Barton Lodge really is an inclusive and incredible place to work.”

For more information about the exceptional care Barton Lodge provides, please do not hesitate to contact our dedicated team on 01425 209235.

Stay up-to-date with all our latest activities by visiting our Facebook page!

Woodley Grange resident reconnects with lifelong friends over a special ‘Crafternoon’

8th January 2024/in Uncategorised /by rizwan_user

Our residents’ wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do, so when our Woodley Grange team discovered our resident Joyce’s incredible love of art and her previous Royal clientele, we had to arrange a special craft session for her. It was the perfect opportunity for Joyce to reconnect with lifelong friends and do more of what she loves.

We are incredibly lucky that Joyce, now 95, shared her fond memories making lampshades for Windsor Castle and the residences of Queen Elizabeth’s staff with us. What an incredible achievement!

Joyce has spent much of her life travelling Europe and visiting galleries and museums. She went on to make some lifelong friends at a local art club based in Hedge End, so we couldn’t wait to welcome them to Woodley Grange. Our fantastic staff put on a special ‘crafternoon’ of card making. It was lovely to share this special occasion with her friends and all our residents were delighted to join in too.

Thrilled with the special day, Joyce said: “It was delightful seeing my old friends and being able to do the things I love with them in the comfort of my own home. It sure brought back good memories.”

Loraine Tabbner, Woodley Grange’s Care Home Manager, said: “At Woodley Grange, we believe in the power of creative expression and the importance of reminiscence in our residents’ lives.

“Moments like these, where Joyce has been able to reconnect with her passion and friends, show the huge benefit of creative activities on well-being and social connections.

“We are committed to creating an environment where residents like Joyce can continue to thrive and pursue their interests with us.”

It was such a special day, it made it into the Hampshire Chronicle! To read the full article, please click here.

Follow us on Facebook or check out our blogs for all our latest activities!

Our Love Life Cafes are back!

13th November 2023/in Uncategorised /by rizwan_user

We are thrilled to announce that the social event our residents always look forward to, our monthly Love Life Cafes, are back up and running!

Many of you will be familiar with our Love Life Cafes, which we started before the pandemic. But obviously during the height of the pandemic, we were unable to welcome visitors safely and had to change what they looked like. So now, it’s lovely that so many friendly faces are able to join us again! It’s an amazing feeling to be able to come together like before.

We’d like to thank everyone who joined us at our most recent Love Life Cafes and made it so special. It was wonderful to see the beaming smiles across our residents’ faces!

If you haven’t had the privilege of attending before, our Love Life Cafe at Barton Lodge and Woodley Grange is the perfect place for our staff, residents, relatives, friends and the community to come together to socialise. We make it a really memorable occasion and lay the tables with lovely fresh white linen tablecloths and provide delicious cakes – it’s such a treat!

Our cafes are also a lovely opportunity to promote worthy causes, we’ve been focusing on Macmillan Coffee Morning at Woodley Grange and Breast Cancer Awareness month at Barton Lodge.

We’re already counting down the days until the next one! Everyone is welcome, so if you would like to come along:

Join us at Woodley Grange

24th November & 29th December, from 2-4pm.

Join us at Barton Lodge

16th November & 20th December, from 2-4pm.

We can’t wait to welcome you and will be releasing 2024 dates very soon!

Keep an eye on our blogs for our latest events and activities, or contact us for more information about our upcoming Love Life Cafes.

Resident Audrey’s wish comes true with tee-rific trip back to her former golf club

12th September 2023/in Uncategorised /by rizwan_user

As part of our much-loved Wish Maker initiate, we were delighted to help Audrey, a resident at Woodley Grange, return to her former golf club, Stoneham Golf Club.

Stoneham Golf Club is a very special place for Audrey, as it holds many treasured memories of her late husband Bertie and playing countless rounds of golf with her closest life-long friends.

On the special day, club pro, Ian Stoneham, took Audrey to the range to test out her swing and she was overjoyed to be able to make new memories with her son Nigel, who joined her for this memorable outing.

At 95 years old, Audrey definitely still has it! Her son Nigel said: “It has made me want to take up golf again too, but I still don’t think my shot will be as straight as hers!”

Audrey was delighted to see her husband’s name up on the board for a hole in one and reflected: “It felt like going back to those amazing old times and it definitely awakened the golfer within me.”

Liliana Macieira, Woodley Grange’s care home manager, commented: “We were thrilled to see how happy Audrey was on the trip and she hasn’t stopped smiling since she came back.

Reliving cherished memories while creating new ones is a cornerstone of our approach to care.”

Inspired by her visit, Audrey is keen to continue with her golf, so we are already working on finding a place for her to keep practising her putting!

We are thrilled that Audrey’s heart-warming story got picked up by the Hampshire Chronicle, please click here to read the full article.

To keep up to date with our latest activities, follow us on Facebook or check out our blogs. To arrange a visit, phone our dedicated team on 01794 337326.

The sky’s the limit for Woodley Grange’s Maintenance Manager Peter Adams

25th July 2023/in Uncategorised /by rizwan_user

We’re so proud of Peter, our maintenance manager at Woodley Grange, who took to the skies to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer, after his partner, Donna, triumphed over the disease last year.

Inspired by her journey and determined to make a difference, Peter challenged himself to step out of his comfort zone, and with the support of experienced skydivers from GoSkydive, completed a skydive in Salisbury.

Peter stated: “I wanted to do something memorable to honour my partner’s strength and celebrate her victory over breast cancer.”

With full support from our caring community, Peter raised a massive £855 for Breast Cancer Now, an incredible charity dedicated to providing vital support to breast cancer patients, survivors, and their families. A huge thank you to everyone who contributed!

Woodley Grange’s Manager, Liliana Macieira reflects: “We are so proud of Peter’s commitment to making a positive impact on the lives of those affected by breast cancer.

“The success of Peter’s charity skydive serves as a reminder that everyone has the power to make a positive difference and his courage and commitment inspire us all to support those facing the challenges of breast cancer.

“Our residents love him dearly and we are privileged to have such compassionate people as part of our team at Woodley Grange.”

Please join us in congratulating Peter on his massive achievement next time you see him!

This inspirational story made it into the Hampshire Chronicle! To read the full article, please click here.

To keep up to date with our latest activities, follow us on Facebook and blogs, or to arrange a visit, phone our dedicated team on 01794 337326.

Woodley Grange residents enjoy some retail therapy in independent shopping spree

28th June 2023/in Uncategorised /by rizwan_user

Looking after our residents’ well-being and making sure they keep their independence are always our top priorities.

With this in mind, our fantastic Woodley Grange team arranged a lovely experience where our residents could be fully independent and do one of their favourite activities – clothes shopping!

The team welcomed Gemini Fashions to set up shop in the Palmerston Lounge for our residents to come in and have a look and buy some new summer clothes.

Our residents were delighted with the choice of summery trousers, blouses, skirts and dresses – you name it, we had it!

We would like to thank Gemini Fashion for making the day such a success! Our residents can’t wait to do it again!

To keep up to date with our latest activities, follow us on Facebook and blogs, or to arrange a visit, phone our dedicated team on 01794 337326.

Our Coronation Celebrations were fit for the King!

25th May 2023/in Uncategorised /by rizwan_user

We were delighted that friends and family, of all generations, could join us to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III.

Our residents had a fantastic time! Our amazing staff really went to town on the decorations and activities, to make it a memorable occasion for everyone.

Lasting memories made at Barton Lodge

Our residents loved getting fully involved in the preparations for the King’s Coronation day. We all sat down to make decorations together, including beautiful flowers, paper chains and a God Save the King poster. We also created some lovely wall art to decorate our home, using sponges to paint flowers in the traditional British colours, red, white and blue.

The ladies had a pampering session to get ready for the big day, having their nails painted in patriotic colours.

On the day, we all got together to watch the Coronation, our residents, family and friends were treated to a lavish afternoon tea. The tables were decorated with Union Jack table cloths and the cake stands were topped with beautifully knitted crowns. There was a delicious array of sweet treats, with scones topped with cream and jam, cupcakes, chocolate eclairs and so much more!

Our wonderful volunteer, Tracy, made a sensational Coronation-themed red, white and blue tiered cake, complete with cupcakes topped with the special Coronation emblem. For us all to enjoy while watching the Coronation, it was delicious!

Our residents also enjoyed a traditional British lunch of fish and chips or Coronation quiche and were delighted to have their photos taken with King Charles III and Queen Camilla (cardboard cutouts) to mark the occasion.

Special memories at Woodley Grange

Our staff at Woodley Grange did us proud with a spectacular balloon arch, with red, white and blue balloons. As well as matching Union Jack banners, bunting, plates, cups, napkins, table cloth and flower garlands.

Our residents shared a lovely feast with their friends and family, with delicious sandwiches, quiche and sweet treats.

To make lasting memories, the residents had lots of fun taking selfies, with props and Union Jack hats. Our youngest guests enjoyed having a go at playing croquet and hook a duck out on our lovely lawn. We had great entertainment and a Pimms trolley that everyone loved!

We’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate King Charles III Coronation! We had a wonderful time and hope you did too! Also a special thank you to our wonderful staff who went above and beyond to mark the occasion.

Keep an eye on our blogs for more information about our latest events and activities, or contact us to ask about the exceptional care we provide.

Time well spent: Looking back at this year’s fantastic activities with Embley

3rd January 2023/in Uncategorised /by rizwan_user

We’ve been so lucky this year, as our Woodley Grange residents have enjoyed regular sessions with the children from independent Romsey school, Embley.

It’s been great to bring the generations together, so they can share skills and learn from each other. The visits never fail to put a smile on our residents’ faces!

This year, we have run superb sessions with the school’s history, art, music and drama scholars, including:

Rewarding History Sessions

Earlier this year, Embley’s history students visited Woodley Grange, for our first of many sessions. The students thoroughly enjoyed learning about the lives of our residents and discussed the generational differences in their childhoods.

This was great reminiscence therapy for our residents as they were able to share their knowledge and experiences.

Therapeutic Art Sessions

Our residents really enjoyed the two 40-minute workshops, run by Embley’s art scholars. Both sessions focused on flowers and they brought all the art materials needed for the activities. In the first session we painted flowers using watercolours and in the second session we created beautiful origami flowers. We were all amazed with the finished results!

These engaging art activities were ideal for stimulating the brain, strengthening fine motor skills, as well as being great for well-being.

Joyous Singing Sessions

We loved being entertained with recitals and performances from Embley’s talented music and drama scholars.

We also had great fun playing musical bingo and our residents found it funny seeing the children’s faces when they didn’t know some of the songs. To finish the session, we all got up on our feet and sang ‘Sweet Caroline’, which got us all in a fantastic mood!

Fun Exercise Class

In November, the children led a well thought out exercise routine that got us all moving and warmed up, with our arms waving and feet tapping.

It was a really great way to encourage getting active!

Engaging Jewellery Making Session

Our residents were really proud to show off their lovely multi-coloured bead bracelets that they had made with the children. It was a great fun activity for supporting fine motor skills.

Creative Cake Decorating Session

In the run up to Christmas, we had a lovely day of baking treats. We started by making jam tarts and mince pies, with beautifully cut out heart shapes on top, which was followed by an afternoon of Embley coming in and decorating cupcakes with us.

We used yummy chocolate icing and topped the cupcakes with sprinkles and marshmallows, some were even cleverly turned into faces! Again, this activity was great for strengthening fine motor skills – and of course the end results were delicious!

Trip to watch the Nativity

The year ended on a festive high, as our ladies were delighted to go on a trip to Embley, to watch the children’s nativity performance. They had an amazing time and have been raving about the performance, watching lots of budding stars in the making!

Special inter-generational experience

Embley’s Headmaster, Cliff Canning, said how much their students enjoyed the experience: “Embley is proud to be part of a strong and sharing local community and we regard links with and service in the community as a natural dimension of learning. Each week, we are taking our classroom out into the community where pupils can share their skills and learn from others, as well as undertake new responsibilities.”

Woodley Grange’s Registered Manager, Liliana Macieira, added; “We would like to thank the students and staff at Embley for making the inter-generational sessions so special. We can’t wait to do more fun activities together in 2023!”

Follow our Facebook Page to see our latest activities with Embley. To arrange a visit to our outstanding care home, contact our dedicated staff on 01794 337326.

Manucourt use cutting-edge care technology

6th December 2022/in Uncategorised /by rizwan_user

Since going live across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight last year, Manucourt has been at the forefront of using Orion Health’s shared care record (known as ‘Care and Health Information Exchange’, or CHIE for short) and experiencing all the benefits the new technology offers care homes.

To share our experience of using this cutting-edge technology, Woodley Grange were thrilled to feature in NHS Digital’s latest film, alongside Oaklands Care Home. We would like to give special thanks to our residents, families and staff who brilliantly showcased the exemplary care we provide at Woodley Grange.

The Benefits of using CHIE by Orion Health

Instant up-to-date information

CHIE is a convenient shared care record that brings patient information from different care settings into one place, making it accessible to all the clinicians and caregivers involved in their care.

By simply clicking a button, CHIE gives our team immediate access to our resident’s medical history, we can see their latest test results, prescriptions, upcoming appointments and other useful information.

Saves time

Woodley Grange Manager, Liliana Maciera, has said that before CHIE, the staff used to spend a lot of time on the phone to hospitals, GP surgeries and community providers, chasing information, since using CHIE we are able to spend quality time with our residents instead, as it is all logged and readily accessible on the system.

Reassuring for residents and their families

Our residents and their families are already noticing the benefits of using CHIE. Cath and Margaret Hart shared how pleased they are that they no longer have to wait on hold to receive blood test results, and other families are relieved they no longer need to remember and relay all the details and changes to their family’s medical history to the staff. Our resident, Anne, feels much more relaxed that the management team will be able to help, as they can instantly access all the relevant information.

Outstanding care

Woodley Grange Head of Care, Lorraine Tabbner, said that by having access to the residents’ medical history, it means we can deliver the correct care, we know everything about everyone that comes into the building and it means that nothing is missed.

By having faster and smoother transfers of care, it avoids duplicate testing, improves medication safety and prevents patients having to repeat information to every new person they see. The efficient system is particularly beneficial if a patient suffers from memory loss, or has difficulty communicating.

Secure

CHIE uses multi-factor authentication to ensure the ultimate data security. A passcode is sent to verify the user’s identity, in the same way that online banking does, so all information remains confidential and secure.

To request further information, or arrange a viewing of our multi-award winning care home, please call our highly trained team on 01794 337326.

Woodley Grange look after staff’s well-being

9th November 2022/in Uncategorised /by rizwan_user

Our staff always go the extra mile for our residents, so Woodley Grange Manager, Liliana Macieira, organised some well-deserved pampering sessions to recognise their hard work and commitment.

Liliana said: “With the pandemic and the uncertainty we are now facing, staff recruitment and retention has been a real challenge. This has put a lot of pressure on the staff that stayed strong and continue working in care.”

Massage student, Solange Jesus, was invited into the home to deliver a number of 30 minute massages for staff, which for many, was their first experience.

Liliana continues: “This initiative is saying we care about our staff’s feelings. I saw first-hand the positive impact this initiative had on my staff’s well-being.”

Agency staff member, Waidi, remarked: “It’s amazing that management cares about their staff and organises things like this. They all deserve it and I am so thankful for being asked if I wanted to participate as it was a very relaxing experience and a first time for me”.

Solange reflected: “The staff at Woodley Grange work very hard and really do care. It was my pleasure to treat them to a relaxing massage as they have been through a lot during the pandemic.”

We are very proud of our dedicated team who continue to deliver outstanding quality care, that Woodley Grange is well known for.

To read the full article published in the Hampshire Chronicle, please click here.

Follow our Facebook page for our latest news, or phone 01794 337326 to speak to our dedicated team.