Stobhill Care Home

Friday 16^th June marked Care Home Open Day, a day that actively encourages people in the local community to pop into their local care home and find out what’s going on.

The theme for this year’s open day was friendship, and Four Seasons homes and their local community certainly forged some long lasting friendships with their local communities through a variety of different events.

The events included:

• The Prince’s Trust heading into Kingsmead Care Home in Swindon sprucing up the garden
  
• Ty Eirin Care Home in Port welcomed in local school children and councillors for a fun filled afternoon
  
• A Jazz band kept everyone entertained in Pontypridd at Ty Gwynno Care Home
  
• It was a more sleepy affair at Whittington Care Home in Chesterfield as the team turned up for work in the PJs before having lots of fun with residents, relatives and visitors to the home
  
• Music and dancing was definitely on the cards for many of our homes as Benarty View Care Home in Kelty, Gotton Manor Care Home in Taunton, Benholm Care Home in Forfar and Laurels Lodge Care Home in Woodside, all had musical entertainment (and an assortment of other activities) for their guests
  
• Campsie View Care Home in Glasgow had their own petting zoo for everyone to enjoy
  
• The Laurels Care Home in Hetton-le-Hole held a country and western themed day which everyone thoroughly enjoyed
  
• Jazz was the music of choice at The Cedars and Larches Care Home in Ilkeston’s festivities.
  
• Redwell Hills Care Home in Consett, remembered the friends they’d sadly lost and released some balloons with messages in their honour.

The photos you can see above are just a snap shot of what happened at our homes during Care Home Open Day. It’s great to see from the pictures that everyone had lots of fun.

We’ll be launching the 2017 Four Seasons Care Awards in the summer. In the meantime, we thought it would be nice to catch up with some of the winners of last year’s awards, to see what it’s been like since they’ve gone back to the floor.

This week we’ll be focusing on Sheena Walker, a member of the Learning and Development Team in Scotland who won the Central Support Team Member accolade.

Sheena is definitely a force to be reckoned with in Scotland, and her passion for helping others develop in their health care career is something to be admired. That’s why when she won the Central Support Team Member of the Year award she was surprised and over whelmed.

“It was a little bit intimidating receiving so much recognition,” explains Sheena. “It is nice to be recognised, but for me it’s not a job. I am very passionate about nursing. I was a nurse myself for a long time. I want to nurture and grow this passion in others who embark on their own nursing journey.”

Since winning the award Sheena has been continuing to support and develop Four Seasons colleagues in Scotland as they complete their Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQ).

Sheena is a very humble lady. John Kirk, Managing Director for Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man had this to say about her. “Sheena is a fantastic lady, and a great asset for us to have up here in Scotland. The support she provides her colleagues to help them progress through qualifications is second to none. I’m glad she’s been recognised in this way.”

Information about Four Seasons Care Awards 2016 is available on the awards section of our website.

Towards the end of last year, the 42 homes in Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man regions took part in a competition to create their own twiddle mitts.

John Kirk, Managing Director for the Region, said: “Twiddle Mitts provide much needed relief for people living with dementia, as they are able to play with the various beads and other textures on there.

“With that in mind, I set the homes on my patch a challenge. I wanted to see who could design the best twiddle mitt.

“The response I got was fantastic. The mitts weren't only made by members of the care teams, but by the residents and their families. I want to thank everyone who took the time to make a mitt. These will now be winging their way back to the homes for the residents to enjoy.”

The top three twiddle mitts were chosen from the following homes:

• 1st Place: Havencourt Care Home
  
• 2nd Place: Carrickstone Care Home
  
• 3rd Place: Gowrie House Care Home