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Recent events:
February has been a short but busy month at Elmfield House.
Our pub lunches at the Hen & Chicks have continued each fortnight. Our latest trip to the pub was pretty quiet compared to usual as we had a few residents with winter- related ailments which prevented them from attending. Pub lunches remain as highly anticipated as ever.
Tina from High Kicks and Heels performed her usual cabaret working her magic of captivating the audience. She sang a melody of ‘golden oldies’ which our residents sang along to, waved flags and joined in with dancing.
Alison and Pauleene came to do their monthly church service, prayers and gave communion to another good turnout of residents who welcomed them to Elmfield. It is lovely to see the spiritual support such visits bring to our residents.
The chiropodist attended to all of our resident’s podiatry needs and will next be at Elmfield 11th March.
Nicky the hairdresser continues with her fortnightly visits to keep our resident’s perfectly coiffured.
We have had two different year groups of school children this month. We had the year 4 children earlier on in the month. They performed a wonderful show for our residents consisting of singing, dancing and even gymnastics!
After half- term, we have welcomed the younger children from the school. We have had to amend the activities we do with the younger children and it a joy to have such curious and inquisitive children in our home.
Over the past month we have done quizzes with the children, ’10 facts about me’ handouts to get to know each other, painting, coloring, chess, exercises and outdoor skittles.
The ‘Learning beyond the classroom’ project has been extremely engaging for both the school children as well as our residents who adore having visits from the little ones.
The teaching assistant who escorts the pupils has also informed us that their visits to Elmfield have helped to overcome behavioral issues and low confidence/ self- esteem.
Towards the end of the month, we welcomed Jasmine to the home w3ho used her talents to complete an hour’s worth of chair- based exercises to music as a large group. Jasmine was excellent at getting and keeping our residents involved and she completed a wide variety of exercises to utilise and strengthen existing muscles in the comfort of your arm chair. Jasmine brought some sponge footballs and some huge elastic bands to assist her workshop. Feedback from residents was very positive and it is hoped that we can book Jasmine again in the future.
The unseasonably warm weather has meant that staff have taken lots of residents out for a stroll in the sunshine and we had hoped to feed the ducks. However, we got a surprise when we arrived at the pond to find diggers, workmen and the area cordoned off! We have been led to believe that the pond has been drained and will re-fill naturally as and when it rains. We were very disappointed as you can imagine!
On Valentine’s Day we had a Valentine’s party and Graham Broad provided some smoochy songs. He sang a few Elvis songs especially for the birthday boy Roger as well as “Happy Birthday!” We had a buffet style tea for our party.
Upcoming events:
We have some exciting things to look forward to…. Shrove Tuesday (better known as Pancake Tuesday) will be early March.
We have the Cubs coming late afternoon/ early evening to read to our residents after which they will have successfully completed their reading badges which will then be presented at Elmfield House.
We have a fashion show at Elmfield House from 2-3:30pm on Thursday 21st March. Bon Marche will be bringing their spring and summer collection to the home and have asked for 5/6 residents, staff or visitors to model their items. There will be the opportunity to purchase any item in any size. They will also be bringing a selection of nightwear.
If successful, we will have Bon Marche in to do seasonal fashion shows twice per year. Everyone is welcome! It is hoped that this will help residents to be independent and be able to choose their attire without the struggles and hassle of getting into the town Centre which can be difficult when you have physical or cognitive impairments.
We have also made arrangements for the Surrey Heath visiting library to come to Elmfield to help residents access books and audio books to keep their reading interests alive.
We are hopping to have the baby chicks around Easter time….. watch this space!
Staff and resident changes:
We have a new senior at Elmfield House called Priya Hall. She started her induction early February and is still getting to know the residents, staff and daily routines but has made a positive start.
Sadly, we lost one of our resident’s mid- March. Mary Nutcher passed away after a relatively quick deterioration. Our thoughts are with her family.
Birthdays:
February was a busy month in terms of birthdays, we had three to celebrate.
First of all was Jean Winfield who celebrated her 99th birthday on 1st February. She had visits from several generations of family and she enjoyed her birthday cake!
Roger Dodd celebrated his 66th birthday on Valentine’s Day. We had a party and he was visited by his family which he really enjoyed. Roger requested steak and chips for lunch which he said was delicious!
Brenda Donaghey turned 91 years old on 27th February. She had an Indian meal with her family and had several friends and family visit which made her day.
Other news:
In the coming weeks, the email address for the home will be changing as we have been signed up to NHS.net which is the most secure, encrypted exchange of email. You will all be notified of changes before they are implemented. The NHS.net email address must be used when sharing or exchanging personal details or information.
Employee of the month:
Employee of the month for February was awarded to Natalie Goodchild who works nights. She is new to Elmfield but has made a very impressive start despite emergencies and a death to deal with very early on. Natalie has been very professional and has shown great character and integrity. Well done Natalie!