It’s very easy to announce that a care home is family friendly, but what does that mean? Historically, care homes and nursing homes followed the hospital model of rigid visiting times. This in turn meant that families may not have been considered to be intrinsic in the planning of care pathways or, in fact, in the individual’s life inside a care environment. Today, things are changing for the better but there is always more work to be done. Apple House care homes embrace an ethos of inclusion. Families and loved ones have a hugely crucial role to play and, as …
Romaine Lawson, Director of Operations, has won the award for Lifetime Achievement in Care at the Hampshire Care Awards in Winchester last Friday! We couldn’t be more proud of Romaine who, after a career in the care sector spanning over 27 years, was presented with her award by TV news favourite, Fred Dinenage, at the glittering event. Romaine’s varied career began as a care assistant and continued through to managing learning disability satellite homes and founding a school for disadvantaged children in The Sacred Valley of Peru. Romaine joined Apple House in 2005. On receiving her award, Romaine said, “I’m …
We are thrilled to announce that Redcroft care home won the ‘Innovation In Care’ award at The Daily Echo’s Proud To Care Awards. Redcroft’s registered manager and team created an entire cookery book in Braille, as featured here on our blog. Working with an individual for whom cookery is a loved pastime, all of her favourite recipes are now fully accessible to her in her own Braille cook books! The Daily Echo said of the awards, “Now in their third year, The Daily Echo Proud to Care Awards are an amazing opportunity for our readers to tell us about all …
During a house recent house meeting there was a fantastic discussion on developing our ‘Champion’ roles within our service. What is a Champion? Our Champions encourage team members and residents to develop their knowledge and practical skills in a variety of key areas. By being a learning ‘bridge’ between research, best practice, and knowledge, and others at Redcroft, Champions do the hard work and source the information to share. They make learning fun. They challenge poor and habitual ways of doing things and offer an alternative and often fun means of carrying out the task or offer something entirely new to try. …
On Tuesday 5thNovember, Redcroft held their second annual firework party. Following on from the inaugural event last year, individuals residing at Redcroft looked forward to the event with great anticipation and excitement. The requests for louder and more exciting fireworks were met with the inclusion of multi shot firework cakes, much to the excitement of all those who witnessed them. The event was preceded with the cornerstone firework cuisine of burgers and hotdogs. The success of this event has already initiated the planning of next year’s event, which promises to include even bigger and more exciting fireworks! — David Dellow, …
What is stress? At the most basic level, stress is our body’s response to pressures from a situation or life event. Some common features of things that can make us feel stress include experiencing something new or unexpected, something that threatens your feeling of self, or feeling you have little control over a situation. [Mental Health Foundation] In the following article, Jayne Jackson, registered manager at Apple House care home, writes an open and very insightful reflection on how stress plans can and do have a profoundly positive impact for a gentleman she supports: Our care plans are person centred and very individual to …
There is something very therapeutic about cooking. Mastering techniques and putting one’s own creative spin on a well-loved recipe. Collecting eggs from our Redcroft hens and reaching for a cook book for that special cake recipe… But, wait a minute! Cookery should be accessible to all who love it, shouldn’t it? We think so! Which is why, when ‘L’ (who is registered blind) showed a culinary passion, we decided to set out and find a way to make all our cookery books accessible to her in the format she knew best. Redcroft contacted RNIB and began working with them to create an …
We are delighted to announce that our Redcroft care home team are finalists in The Daily Echo’s Proud to Care Awards in the Award for Innovation category. Here are some of our Redcroft team (absolutely love this photo!): Not only are we beyond proud of Redcroft, but we are equally proud of our very own Dawn from Apple House care home who is a finalist in the Proud To Care Awards category of Care Home Worker! Dawn gives 200% to the service, her colleagues and the people she supports and is so deserving of this wonderful recognition as an award …
