Decembers seasonal festivities got off to a great start, with an inter-generational collaboration of well-being participation between care home residents and preschoolers, when Tarland Nursery came to visit at the home. Our residents were delighted to welcome the youngsters into their home, where they spent some time chatting and getting to know one another before joining together for a Christmas sing song.
Next on the agenda was our monthly Oomph Wellness outing where residents Alice, John, George, May and Jack chose to visit their local club ‘Forget Me Not’. A day of socialising with friends and members of the local community really boosted their spirits.
Later in the month we hosted two social events at Alastrean House, where residents invited relatives and friends to join them in watching their live Christmas pantomime and theatre shows together. There was a full house in attendance for both, with ‘The Nutcracker’ and ‘Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow’ proving to be a huge hit with everyone who came along. The beautiful buffet and some bubbly also got the thumbs up from both residents and their guests alike.
With the festive pantomimes and plays still fresh in mind, residents Alice and May decided to pop along to watch the Christmas play put on by pupils at Tarland Primary School. They enjoyed it so much that they wanted to share it with their friends at Alastrean House, so invited the school pupils up to the home to perform their play to all residents, which we are glad to say, they were more than delighted to do. Not only did the kids sing lots of Christmas Carols for us, they also individually handed out beautiful Christmas cards for every resident that they had had made themselves. What a touching gesture!
Next on our jam packed Christmas itinerary was the Christmas Carol Church Service held by Minister Simon Crouch and musician Mary Berry. Residents thoroughly enjoyed the service and enthusiastically sang along to the well known Carols. Afterwards everyone enjoyed chatting and sharing some refreshments together.
Many of our residents love to sing and share music together. One resident in particular, Owen, used to be Choir Master of the Christ Church Choir. Owen told us of how much he has missed choir conducting since his retirement from his choir master duties, so we had a chat with some members of Christ Church Choir and invited them along to Alastrean House to brighten up Owen’s day. Needless to say, Owen was absolutely delighted. Owen most gracefully resumed his position of choir master for the day, introducing the choir to his friends at Alastrean House and guiding them along in a beautiful selection of songs.
It has been a wonderful fun packed month with so many exciting things for everyone to get involved in. Much of this has been made possible by the generous donations we have received to our residents comfort fund. To keep these funds topped up we designed, printed and sold our very first Alastrean House Calendars, beautifully illustrated with photographs of our residents living their best life throughout the year. Residents comfort funds have really benefited from this and we would like to thank everyone who purchased a calendar. We would also like to thank each and every person who has contributed to our residents well-being by donating to the comfort fund in any way, and may we take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy 2019.
