The theme for June was “HATS and HORSES” this was chosen to incorporate Trooping the Colour and Royal Ascot. The weather has been very kind to us and has provided us with ample opportunities to sit and relax in the beautiful courtyard at Woodlands. Our Hydration team, Dilys and Becky, have been very busy ensuring our residents are well hydrated during this hot spell with delicious drinks, ice lollies and fruit. Apart from our daily in-house activities including, quoits, knitting, puzzles, cards and quizzes the residents have enjoyed outside visits to The Wyvern and Emporium public houses, Redfields and Squires garden centres, and the bi-annual Tea Dance put on by Robert May’s school.
I Say Sir…!
During the month of June we have had the pleasure of welcoming a few new residents, including a couple of gentleman, to Woodlands. We are proud to now be offering a weekly Gentleman’s club which kicked off with shooting!
If you can’t stand the heat…
Our weekly Wednesday cooking club is much awaited by our residents, wondering what delights they will be cooking up for themselves and other residents for tea. This month they have enjoyed making apple tarts, jam turnovers and icing some very bright blue cupcakes to celebrate Alzheimer’s Day. We have been delighted to have a student college volunteer, Regan, helping us at cooking club allowing us to accommodate more attendees to the club. Some of the highlights of cooking club have been the rather interesting looking very blue butterfly cakes, and the wonderful stories the residents have shared with us of their cooking triumphs and dilemmas as we relax with a lovely cuppa whilst admiring our hard work.
All Aboard!
Friday 8th June was a very busy day for some of our residents. We started the day with our weekly outing to The Wyvern public house. The residents boarded the minibus and took to their seats joining some of their friends from Hill Brow. We got our usual delightful welcome from The Wyvern staff and enjoyed some wine and hot drinks with our friends before returning to Woodlands for traditional Friday Fish and Chips.
During the evening we once again welcomed the 2nd Cove Sea Scouts for an evening of games. Residents challenged the scouts to chess, jigsaws, word searches, Ludo and dominoes. A brilliant evening was had by everyone and we hope to welcome the Sea Scouts back in the near future for another exciting evening.
On Thursday 14th June we joined the rest of the country celebrating Alzheimer’s Cup Cake Day and raising funds for Alzheimer’s Research and individuals. It was decided to do thing a bit differently here at Woodlands, we all ate and enjoyed our cupcakes but decided to raise funds through a Blue themed raffle. Staff kindly donated prizes for the raffle including some delicious chocolates, wine, a hand crochet knee blanket and a beautiful jigsaw puzzle. The day was a great success raising approximately £70 for Alzheimer’s research and support.
On Friday 15th June and 29th June, we visited our local garden centres Badshot Lea and Redfields. The residents enjoyed a short browse around the beautiful wares and plants and then enjoyed a tasty cuppa in the café along with the other residents from Hill Brow and Hill House. At Woodlands we are very blessed to have a wonderful volunteer, Jane, who accompanies us on our Friday morning ventures.
On Sunday 17th June, in celebration of the special men in our home and Father’s Day, we were privileged to welcome the Surrey Hants Border Branch Morris Minor Owners Club to Woodlands who bought along 4 beautiful Vintage cars – a Morris Minor 1000, 2 soft top MGB’s, and an Austin 12. The vehicles were well and truly inspected both in and out by the residents who were in awe of the magnificent vehicles and shared many stories reminiscing of their days behind the wheel.
At Woodlands we never overlook an opportunity for a celebration. On Thursday 21st June the residents enjoyed basking in the beautiful sunny courtyard whilst sipping on some Pimm’s served by our chef Becky in celebration of Royal Ascot Ladies Day. Unfortunately, our hats were not quite up to the standard of Ascot but a wonderful time was had by all whilst enjoying an Ascot quiz and some very interesting discussions.
A fact from one of our residents! DID YOU KNOW…? IF A HORSE RACE IS HELD IN SNOW, THE HORSES HOOVES ARE COATED IN COOKING OIL TO STOP THE SNOW STICKING!
If Music be the Food of Life…
On Friday 22nd June we were invited to go to Hill House to enjoy the vocal delights of Jonti Duo. On arrival, whilst waiting for Jonti Duo to set up, the residents were delighted to be entertained on the grand piano by our very own Peter who kept our feet tapping to the rhythm of his Jazz tunes. Peter used to play in The Crane River Jazz band.
Jonti Duo treated us to some wonderful renditions of Stage Show classics which had the residents dancing up front and in their chairs. We all love the visit from Jonti Duo and look forward to inviting them back for another entertaining afternoon.
Robert May’s school kindly invited us to their Summer Tea Dance on Monday 25th June. Our residents were welcomed into a beautifully decorated hall in shades of pink and green by enthusiastic and polite students. The students entertained the residents with some wonderfully energetic performances including singing, ballet dancing and music recitals, whilst enjoying a delicious afternoon tea with an abundance of sandwiches and cakes served to them at their tables. The residents were very impressed commenting on what a talented bunch they were.
Along with our wonderful outings into the community residents have a fun filled daily schedule of activities provided by myself, Hayley – Activity Co-ordinator, and our attentive care team. Activities are provided on a one-to-one and group basis and aim to include some of the residents preferred hobbies as well as some new challenges. This month the residents have enjoyed the competitiveness of bowling, shooting, golf putting and the less strenuous chess and dominoes. Many more activities are readily available for residents to access such as colouring, knitting, crosswords and jigsaw puzzles.
