For a PDF version of this newsletter click here
Recent Events:
May is another month that seems to have flown by!
During May we enjoyed our monthly show from High Kicks and Heels. This remains a highly anticipated event each month. Tina entertained us all and as usual, had resident singing and dancing to her memorable hits from days gone by.
We had Jasmine from G-Fitness spent an hour doing a variety of chair- based exercises with our residents using different apparatus.
We had our monthly visit from Surrey Heath visiting library so that our residents could exchange their library books.
Our lovely PAT dog Bailey has continued with his fortnightly visits with his owner Caroline. He brings great delight to our residents and he enjoys being petted and having a fuss made of him.
Our regular lunches at the Hen & Chicks pub. These continue to be a popular outing and we enjoy going across the road for a meal and a tipple for some.
Unfortunately, we did not have our usual Church service in May. They had to change the dates and forgot to notify us. When they arrived, our High Kicks show was in full swing. They will be back in June.
We have had another term of enjoying weekly visits from the lovely children from Bisley Primary School. We have enjoyed having the older children visit us weekly and we have had the pleasure of having the year 6 children with us. We have done all sorts of activities including cake decorating, ‘Egg heads’ team quizzes, outdoor games, indoor board games and lots of question and answer sessions.
We have purchased some more outdoor games so that our residents can enjoy the lovely weather we have been having and still be stimulated.
With the recent sunshine, lots of residents have been going out for walks to the shop and around the green. In the garden, we have played skittles, target games, tennis and had ice cream and choc ices to help us cool down and stay hydrated.
Within the home, we have been playing board games, done a jigsaw, made our own pizzas, baked and decorated cakes, used the famous people question ad answer cards, reminiscing, pamper afternoons using foot spas/ nails/ face masks, foot massages and also had quizzes.
At the end of the month we had our first ‘Teas on the Rec’ for 2019! Weather permitting, staff will take residents across to Bisley Pavillion every Friday afternoon to enjoy tea and cake. There is usually a wonderful turnout and year by year the event is growing. Volunteers work hard baking cakes, serving refreshments, setting up and clearing away before and after the event.
Each week, the money raised is donated to a different charity.
‘Teas on the rec’ will run from May until the end of August and we hope to attend as many as we can.
The Normandie Circus visited Bisley mid- May but unfortunately it was the same weekend as Niccii’s birthday so she was unable to take residents as normal and there were insufficient staffing levels.
Upcoming events:
June look set to be another busy month.
We are hoping to secure transport to attend the Summer Tea Dance at HG Wells on Wednesday 12th June from 1-4pm. We have missed the last ones due to difficulties with securing local transport due to our location. The Bustler bus will not come to Bisley, and Surrey Heath transport is now unwilling to take us to Woking.
We will aim to go to ‘Teas on the Rec.’
Our usual events such as High Kicks and Heels, pub lunches, G-Fitness, church service, PAT dog and library visits will all continue as normal.
We are hoping to arrange a Family BBQ in June if the nice weather continues. Dates to be confirmed closer to the time as will be weather dependent. However, early weather predictions are very positive…….
We are taking part in ‘Cupcake day’ to raise money for the Alzheimer’s society. This is an annual event where individuals or businesses take part in a bake off and cake sale. We hope to beat last year’s efforts, fingers crossed! The official cupcake day is Thursday 13th June so save the date. We were unable to plan events for Dementia Awareness week so are planning to hold several fundraising events over the week to compensate. Please listen out for further details as to what we will be doing…….
Staff and resident changes:
We are pleased to announce that we now have a weekend cook, Tasha Ayres. Tasha has almost finished her induction and we are very happy that she has joined our team.
We have a new addition to our bank staff team, Nana Bonsu. She has been very impressive during her induction period.
Sadly, our housekeeper Samantha Heathcotes has left us as her husband had a new military posting and they have moved to pastures anew.
We have had a lovely lady called Patricia Willis spending 10 days with us whilst her relatives were on holiday. She had a lovely time and she is likely to be coming back for a break in June.
Our recruitment campaign has been successful and in the near future we will be welcoming new faces for a senior carer, full- time day carer, weekend housekeeper, and weekday housekeeper: we are currently awaiting relevant security checks for these individuals.
Birthdays:
We celebrated a very special birthday on 14th May: Colin Chaldecott is still in denial that he is now 90 years old! He enjoyed a lunch out with his family followed by a tea party at Elmfield. He spoke about how wonderful his birthday was for weeks!
Other news:
Niccii spent a week holding care plan review meetings with the majority of relatives from 20th-24th May. These were very productive and lots of positive feedback was received. These appear to have been informative and valuable for both parties. Thank- you to everyone who gave up their time to attend.
We also introduced our new four- week menu which was chosen by our residents. There are very few duplicate meals except for very popular dishes. There are lots of new exciting meals such as sweet and sour chicken with rice, seafood paella, cheese burgers, homemade sausage rolls, country vegetable pie, spaghetti bolognaise, gammon, egg and chips and lots of new desserts to sample.
Employee of the month:
Employee of the month for May has been awarded to Naz Khalesi. Naz is employed as a bank staff but does all job roles including caring, cleaning and cooking. Naz has been at Elmfield for 9 years and has always been hardworking, a great team player and very loyal to Niccii and the home. Naz has a positive and hard-working attitude. Well done Naz! You definitely deserve this!