Residents at
April Park residential care home, in Eckington, have been ending the summer on a high with a beach themed day, sports day and… let’s talk about popping candy!
On 31st August, the Residents decided that they would like a beach day. This included a raised sand pit, complete with buckets and spades and a paddling pool filled with fish and ducks.
Summer hats and glasses were also worn by Residents who indulged in a variety of different ice-cream available.
All Residents were encouraged to paddle, fish or build a sand castle and everyone enjoyed this. One Resident commented, “It's nice to do something a bit different, can we do a zoo next?”
Alison Cossey, Care Home Manager, remarked, “As we couldn't make it to the seaside, the seaside came to us!”
“All the activities were organised by the wellbeing team following a meeting with Residents to find out what the seaside means to them. So I think it was wonderful we were able to do this for them.”
On 27th August, Residents and staff at April Park took part in a sports day in honour of the Olympic Games.
All Residents had the opportunity to have a go at a sport whether they are wheelchair based or able bodied.
There was a lot of fun including hook-a-duck (which was included instead of archery) and golf. This was definitely a crowd pleaser, when the hole in ones were scored.
There was plenty of encouragement, with the most frequent comments heard being “give it a go” and “everyone’s a winner!”
Alison added, “It’s a fun way to exercise both body and mind while having a laugh and supporting your April Park friends. The Residents became quite competitive!”
Finally, today Colleagues held a discussion with the Residents, including Betty, Beryl and Margaret, and they highlighted that they had never tried popping candy, but were all keen to try it out.
So that’s exactly what they did and there were many different faces made, and some loud laughter!
Betty thought the candy was fizzy and Audrey had, “Never tasted anything so strange in all my life!”
Alison remarked, “A new life experience can be had at any age, and it doesn't have to be anything big or expensive.”
“We are now looking at what other types of sweets or foods the Residents haven’t tried before!”