🏡 Life at the Home

What a wonderful July we’ve had at Sherwood House! ☀️ The beautiful weather brought plenty of opportunities to enjoy our garden, with lots of fun, laughter, companionship and friendship along the way. We were incredibly grateful to welcome some wonderful volunteers who gave their time to help with gardening and make our outdoor spaces even more enjoyable. 🌷🌿 Our Summer Fête was a real highlight, bringing residents, families, friends and staff together for a fantastic day filled with smiles, laughter and happy memories. 🎉 July was also a month of change as we welcomed new residents into the Sherwood family, supporting them to settle into their new home and begin making new friendships. 🏡❤️ We also said a very fond goodbye to a long-standing member of our maintenance team, who has been a familiar face and valued part of Sherwood for many years and will certainly be missed. From sunny days in the garden to friendships, conversations and shared laughter, July has been filled with those special everyday moments that make Sherwood feel like home. 💛

🎨 Activities & Wellbeing

July was another fun-packed month at Sherwood House, with a wide variety of activities designed to promote enjoyment, companionship and positive wellbeing. Residents were encouraged to participate according to their individual interests and abilities, while meaningful one-to-one sessions were also offered for those who preferred quieter or more personalised engagement.

• 🎾 Wimbledon afternoon with strawberries and cream

• ⚽ World Cup sweepstake and friendly competition

• 🎉 Annual Summer Fête with residents, relatives, staff and friends

• 🌟 This Is Me Day – celebrating residents’ personalities, memories, interests and what is important to them

• 🇪🇸 Taste It Tuesday – a Spanish-inspired menu and themed activities

• 🎶 Music, sing-alongs and other social activities

• 🌿 Gardening and outdoor activities

• 🎨 Creative and meaningful one-to-one sessions

🎾 Wimbledon treats

🌟 This Is Me Day

🎶 Joining in the fun

❤️ Health & Care Updates

Throughout July, we continued to work closely with our wider health and care professionals to ensure residents received appropriate, responsive and well-coordinated support. Regular input from our GP, Dementia Support Team, District Nurses and other healthcare professionals supported residents with ongoing health needs, reviews and any changes in their care. Care professionals also visited the home to complete individual care reviews, ensuring residents’ current needs and outcomes remained at the centre of their support. Our care plans have continued to be reviewed and developed, with an increased focus on making them more person-centred and ensuring they truly reflect each resident’s individual needs, wishes, preferences, routines and what is important to them. Residents also continued to benefit from visiting services including our hairdresser and chiropodist, supporting both personal wellbeing and health. Staff development has remained a priority, with team members continuing to work towards their NVQ qualifications, building their knowledge, skills and confidence to further enhance the quality of care provided at Sherwood House.

🔧 Maintenance within the Home

During July, we welcomed Graham to the Sherwood House team, who brings with him a wealth of maintenance experience and will support us in continuing to maintain a safe, comfortable and homely environment for our residents. We are currently awaiting the installation of new flooring within the dining area, which will further improve and refresh this communal space. We have also replaced two of the dining room chairs with more comfortable seating, helping to ensure residents have suitable options that meet their individual comfort and support needs. General maintenance and repairs continue to be identified and addressed to ensure the home remains well maintained, welcoming and a pleasant place for our residents to live.

👥 Staffing & Community

Staffing at Sherwood House remains stable, and we have recently advertised and are currently interviewing for new carers to join our wonderful team. We continue to invest in and develop our existing staff, with carers being supported and upskilled to progress into Senior Care roles, providing opportunities for professional development while strengthening the team from within. Community involvement continues to be important to us and our residents. We had arranged a coffee morning with Specsavers; unfortunately, this had to be cancelled, but we will be looking to rebook this. Residents continue to be supported to access the wider community according to their individual interests and wishes. One resident regularly attends a local over-60s club and recently enjoyed a fantastic day trip to Folkestone accompanied by a member of our team, with both having a fabulous day out. Another resident was treated to a surprise birthday pub lunch, making their special day a little more memorable. These individual opportunities are just as important as our activities within the home, supporting residents to maintain independence, community connections, meaningful relationships and, most importantly, continue doing the things they enjoy.

🔭 Looking Ahead

August is set to be another fun-filled and busy month at Sherwood House, with a varied programme of activities and events for our residents to enjoy. We have a special Caribbean-themed BBQ and dress-up day planned, bringing plenty of colour, music, food and summer fun to the home, as well as six resident birthdays to celebrate throughout the month. Residents can also look forward to live music, sing-along sessions, arts and crafts, baking, gardening and many of their regular favourite activities. We will be having some fun with our “If I Were King or Queen for the Day…” activity, where residents will get the opportunity to wear a crown and royal cloak, have their photograph taken and share their own funny, thoughtful or perhaps slightly mischievous royal rules and quotes! 👑 We also hope to make the most of the summer weather with plenty of opportunities to spend time outdoors whenever possible, continuing to create happy memories, laughter and meaningful experiences together.

💬 Staying in Touch

Keeping our families informed and connected with life at Sherwood House continues to be really important to us. Our first family newsletter was sent out recently and received some lovely positive feedback, so we look forward to continuing to share regular updates, celebrations and news from around the home. Families continue to benefit from our private family WhatsApp groups, providing a more personal way of sharing individual updates, photographs and information about their loved one. We also continue to use our wider family WhatsApp group to share general news, reminders and updates from Sherwood. Vikki maintains an open-door policy and is always available to residents and families should you wish to have a chat, raise a question or discuss any aspect of your loved one’s care. We always welcome your feedback, suggestions and involvement and look forward to continuing to work together to make Sherwood a happy, welcoming and truly homely place for everyone.

💛 Every day is an opportunity to create a happy memory. 💛