Guild Care’s armchair adventures and activities for all
Across all Guild Care homes – Caer Gwent, Linfield House and Haviland House in Worthing – there is a carefully-curated activity calendar for all residents, ensuring there are options every day to benefit mind, body and soul.
From opportunities to build friendships or invite family members to join in, to one-to-one activities and moments where residents can simply enjoy time alone, there is something to suit every interest and ability.
In this article, Sammy Paynter, health and wellbeing co-ordinator at Caer Gwent, shares an insight into some recent activities.
Armchair adventures
Holidays are a great opportunity to try new things and have an adventure, but we know that this might not be an option for many of our residents. That’s why our armchair travel sessions are designed to bring all the benefits without leaving the comfort of home. We plan regular themed sessions that give people a chance to experience all the wonderful things about going on holiday – whether that’s sampling new cuisines, learning about different cultures, socialising or sharing memories.
For our second armchair travel event of the year we headed to Italy, from the comfort of Caer Gwent’s lounge. The session started with some facts about the country and residents sharing stories of past trips. While some reminisced about Rome and seeing the Pope, another resident explained that he once visited on a business trip but wasn’t able to see much of the country. We soon rectified that! We screened a film showing the top 10 places to visit in Italy, listened to some Italian music and had a taste of authentic Italian food and refreshments.
As well as being informative, these interactive events are always great fun. Our chef also hosted a pizza-making session, providing dough and a selection of toppings for our residents to create their own culinary masterpieces. Many of our residents invited their friends to join in too, and the group created some extra pizzas for people who hadn’t attended. It was a truly memorable day which received a lot of positive feedback from our residents and their loved ones.
Opportunities for meaningful engagement
At Caer Gwent and across all our homes, we are very fortunate to have beautiful outdoor spaces to enjoy. We try to get out in nature as much as possible, and when the weather doesn’t cooperate we make sure to bring the great outdoors inside. We recently marked Plant a Flower Day, with residents helping to plant pansies, anemones and sunflowers.
Our in-house gardener, Jacqui, helped to source a wide array of plants, compost and pots, lending a hand on the day and sharing her top tips with residents and their families. Even though the weather wasn’t great, we were able to use our indoor spaces to make the most of the day, and we look forward to seeing the flowers come into bloom in spring and summer.
These are just a few examples of the variety of events we carefully plan on a weekly basis, ensuring there is something to bring joy and enrichment to every resident, every day. In our latest six-monthly internal mock CQC inspection, we scored highly in this area, with the inspector noting that we provide ‘highly personalised activities and meaningful engagement’.
To find out more about life at Caer Gwent or any Guild Care homes, please call our friendly customer relationship team on 01903 327327, email [email protected] or visit our website at guildcare.org.