Newsletter Spring 2011
Happy Easter to all our residents, relatives and friends and our best wishes are sent to Prince William and Kate Middleton on their forthcoming royal wedding.
We suffered a severe, long winter and our praises to our staff for their commitment in getting to and from work but we all appreciate the home’s Land Rover for all the taxi work over the ice and snow.
January saw the removal of the front porch, a major feature of the house but unfortunately it was in a bad state of repair. After some specialized renovation work it was re-erected at the beginning of April. The west door entrance porch has also been repaired and painted.
After our very hectic Christmas, January was a time to return to normal, with the first job being taking the Christmas decorations down and pack away in readiness for 2011. With so many events over Christmas, our photo gallery was full and of course we are able to provide copies on request.
February saw the arrival of our new mini-bus and to date we have had organized trips to the cinema in Henley to see The King’s Speech, to Swyncombe Church to see the famous carpet of snowdrops, local Garden Centre, Bluebell Woods with tea at Benson Waterfront and to date into Wallingford Market Place for the St. George’s Day celebrations. Throughout the year the mini-bus with its lift will give us so much scope for outings etc. All new ideas are welcome. Suggestions from recent Residents’ Meetings include a River Cruise and a trip to the zoo.
We also secured the services of a podiatrist in February. Every 4/5 weeks he will be spending the whole day here. The new Cinema Club was launched in February. This has proved so popular with all the residents and we have found they enjoy it most after supper.
Our first themed day of the new year was St. Valentine’s Day followed in March by St. David’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day and of course Easter to bring us up-to-date. The conservatory is dedicated to St. George’s Day as the Dining is decorated for Easter.
ACTIVITIES
Our Activities Co-ordinator displays we weekly activity programme in the walk through lounge which will show at least four sessions in a one week period. The time of day these activities take place can vary e.g. the films are normally shown after supper whilst the craft sessions take place in the afternoons. All residents are encourage to join in and relatives and friends are also welcome. Every resident has an individual activity profile which is personalized to their needs, interests and capabilities. If a resident chooses not to take part in a group activity, a one to one session is planned. This enables all residents to be included in our activity programme.
Over a period of years we have established a comprehensive range of resources designed especially for the elderly to stimulate the mind and body. Also, our Activities Organizer is a highly qualified instructor of exercises to music. At every opportunity we encourage residents to join in our outdoor events and trips in our new acquired mini-bus.
We are always open to new suggestions and welcome anyone to share their interests and hobbies with us.
A weekly timetable of activities is on display.
We were fortunate to have two carvery lunches in April, one on Mother’s Day and one on Easter Sunday. Our thanks to our chef.
We have celebrated so many birthdays over the last few months and each have been celebrated with a birthday card and cake from everyone.
The Bring and Buy Sale together with the raffle raised a healthy £220 with the proceeds being split between the Oxfordshire Air Ambuland and Hope Direct. Our thanks go the ladies of the Wallingford Inner Wheel for their time and efforts on the day. It was also nice for the residents to see so many relatives and friends here.
The mobile library has visited regularly since Christmas but its next visit will not be until 16th May because of Bank Holidays. The Bank holidays have not interrupted ourhairdresser’s visits on a Tuesday.
To celebrate the Royal Wedding we are being treated to a fish and chip picnic on 30th April. Residents are always saying how they would love to eat fish and chips out of a paper bag again. Everyone is looking forward to the Royal Wedding on 29th April. Our large digital T.V. will be on for those wanting to watch together and We have recently had a large signboard designed and erected at the bottom of the drive so that motorists can identify us easily.
Our website (www.sotwellhillhouse.co.uk) has been totally revamped and should go live at the end of April.
On a nature note, a pair of Canadian Geese have taken up residence by the pond for the third year in succession. A fox was seen lurking on 23rd April but to date no babies have disappeared. Their progress is being monitored very carefully.
