Our hatching ? experience was interesting and a great test of patience. We are delighted to announce the arrival of gorgeous chicks, albeit not from the eggs we nurtured, but such is nature. When the chicks are big enough to thrive outside some will enjoy their new chicken house in our garden, while Redcroft will be welcoming the others. It’s safe to say these little chicks, each with their own personality, are already adored members of the Apple House family! Jane M, who has attended a Chicken Keeping course, will be chief wing-clipper while Carly has already been spotted with …
If you follow our COVID-19 page right here on our blog, there are three new policy, procedural and risk assessment documents added for your perusal. Please click this LINK. …
The Government has today issued new guidance on care home visiting. We have therefore published our updated Visiting Policy which can be viewed on our Covid-19 page by clicking HERE and scrolling down the page to today’s date, 8th March. In addition, you will find on our Covid-19 page our latest letter to families, friends and essential carers, again of today’s date. …
You may recall last year’s fabulous blog posts by David Dellow of Redcroft. David embarked on a transformative nature garden project at our Southbourne care home, Redcroft. Spanning several months progress was tracked, from scrubby patch behind the chicken run, to what is now a haven for an abundance of wildlife. Thank you, David and team, for all your hard work! David is delighted to share with you his final nature garden instalment: The Journey Ends. Ten months after work commenced, the nature garden has been finished. The last few months have seen the commencement and completion of several tasks …
During these most challenging of times, as the nation finds wonderfully creative ways to connect to others through this lockdown, Summerwood care home is enjoying a mutually rewarding connection with a local nursery school. Intergenerational learning and friendship has been proven to bring lasting and positive outcomes for all and, in these exceptional times of reduced community access, Apple House care homes greatly value a diverse means of retaining each home’s position in the heart of their communities. Sharing art, stories and fun videos is enabling both the children of the nursery school and the team and residents of Summerwood …
Chinese New Year is fast approaching – and with it comes a host of superstitions that will apparently dictate how the next 12 months will play out for each of us. Washing clothes, using scissors and sweeping floors are some of the easier omens to sidestep. According to Chinese superstition, doing any of these on Feb 12 – the day Chinese New Year falls in 2021 – will lead to bad luck for the entire coming year. But it isn’t all doom and gloom: 2021 is the Year of the Ox, an animal that symbolises strength and determination. — The Telegraph, 9th February 2021. At Redcroft care …
At Apple House care homes we have always been huge fans of growing our own organic produce and keeping chickens. For many years residents at some of our services have enjoyed caring for their hens, constructing and painting hen houses and runs, collecting the eggs and baking delicious cakes. There really is nothing like the taste of organic eggs with large sunny yolks! Little Amberwood agree but are going one step further by hatching their own chicks. There is great excitement as the days tick down to ‘Hatch Day.’ It has been well documented that chicken-keeping has physical, emotional, cognitive …
It’s been a very challenging time for all during this pandemic, so we at Summerwood have joined a community and are now working with our local ‘early years’ childcare setting. We have been sending letters and videos to each other and keeping in contact, brightening up each others’ days through this tough time. We have also received pictures and letters from the pre-school which has made our day! All at Summerwood get very excited making videos knowing the young ones will get that extra support and a learning outcome from it. We are hoping this summer that the pandemic will die …
We would like to wish all of our teams, families and loved ones and our wider health and social services teams a very merry Christmas and holiday period. Our teams are working hard to ensure a safe and peaceful Christmas can and will be enjoyed for all the people we support. We have seen the introduction of Lateral Flow Device tests (LFD) and our staff are busy attending the webinars and training to ensure that these can be delivered in a timely manner. You can see more information regarding these tests here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-lateral-flow-testing-of-visitors-in-care-homes Our teams have gone over and above this …
