The month of October with its changing colours and weather was yet again another very busy month for all our residents. They enjoyed many activities and quizzes based around the theme “All creatures great and small”. Residents also enjoyed many outings, lots of singing, pumpkin carving, trick and treat with children, as well as seeing owls and birds of prey up close and personal.
Here are just a few of the things in more detail, that the residents were doing throughout the month:
On Friday 6th October all three homes met up for drinks at the Emporium in Fleet. Some of Woodlands residents took the opportunity to go into Fleet for a few essential bits of shopping. The other residents took the chance to have a good catch up about the week’s events whilst enjoying a drink, a piece of cake and some crisps. It was a lovely morning out arriving back in time for some well-earned lunch.
The Brownies came to visit the residents during the evening of Tuesday 10th October. They performed various traditional Brownie songs which also included some very funny and entertaining actions that the residents especially liked. It was a wonderful evening, finishing off with tea and cakes that the Brownies had kindly brought in for the residents.
It was our monthly session of ‘Singing for the Brain’ with Barbara Raynor on Wednesday 11th October. Residents from Woodlands took a trip to Hill House and joined with residents from our sister homes for an afternoon of fun and singing. It was a great afternoon with some well-known songs such as “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and “London’s Burning”.
It was sunny albeit chilly morning on Friday 13th October, with residents from all three homes meeting up at Redfields garden centre. Residents enjoyed a stroll around the centre admiring the autumn flower tubs as well as getting a sneak peek at some beautiful Christmas trees being put out on display. They all finished the morning in the café with tea, coffee and cake.
It was a busy day on Friday 20th October, with residents enjoying the morning out at the Wyvern Pub. They joined other residents from our other homes for drinks, snacks and a good old chat before arriving back in time for a fish and chips lunch.
During the afternoon Woodlands residents were treated to a wonderful afternoon of singing by the amazing Camberley Rock Choir. One of our own members of staff Aimi, sings with the Camberley Rock Choir, so it was extra special for the residents to see her sing. It was a fabulous afternoon, with the Rock Choir joining the residents after the singing for tea and cakes. The cakes had been especially decorated by the residents as a small thank you for coming to sing for them.
Colin Sutherland from the unique charitable ‘Wings of Freedom’ brought his wonderful owls and birds of prey to visit the residents at Woodlands on the morning of Monday 30th October. With him Colin brought a barn owl called ‘Rocky’, a European eagle owl called ‘Storming Norman’, a falcon called ‘Doris’ and a kestrel called ‘Toni’. Colin showed each bird in turn to the residents who were very interested in hearing and learning all about their unique species and history. Residents asked lots of questions and got the chance to hold or stroke the birds. It was a really great and informative morning, which enabled the residents to get up close and personal with some spectacular owls and birds of prey.
It was all things Halloween on Tuesday 31st October, with residents carving pumpkins during the morning, in preparation for the children’s visit for trick or treat later in the day. Later in the evening the residents were visited by a number of children from the local community. The children enjoyed a tour of all the pumpkins that had been lit, and chatted to the residents about their spooky costumes. Residents thanked the children for visiting by giving each of them a bag of sweets. We look forward to seeing all their amazing costumes again next year.
The day didn’t finish there, after supper a couple of Woodlands residents took a trip up to Hill House for our quarterly Charity Quiz Night, which helps to raise funds for our wonderful charity ‘Families Supporting Care’. Eight teams took part, answering several rounds of questions about various topics, with the music round as usual being the residents favourite. It was a very close fought competition with the team ‘BP Squared’ being crowned the evenings winners. Congratulations to them and thank you to everyone that attended the evening and for their continued support.