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Love is in the air as our homes prepare for Valentine’s Day

Residents are set to celebrate Valentine’s Day with romantic lunches, parties, live music and community greetings
Hearts, flowers, bubbly, cards and chocolates will all feature in the fun as homes enter the romantic spirit.

At Belmore Lodge, pianist Mark Busell will entertain residents at a Valentine’s-themed afternoon tea. A raffle will be held in aid of the home’s nominated charity, the Lymington Dogs Trust.

Residents at Belmore have also been making heart decorations featuring photos and wording about loved ones. These will be put on display on a ‘Sweetheart Tree’ in the home.

At Linden House, around eleven couples have been invited to an afternoon tea party in the home’s sun lounge. The room and tables will be decorated Valentine’s-style and soft music will be played in the background to create a romantic mood.

Here at Court Lodge we are taking a community-themed approach to Valentine’s Day. In a ‘random act of kindness’  we are writing messages with loving words, attaching them to roses and sharing them with the community in nearby Woodside Park.

At Kingfishers, the fun includes a Valentine’s party with live entertainment from the Land Girls, a sherry and wine social, a special lunch and a bingo afternoon.

Woodpeckers is staging an ‘Art With Heart’ exhibition featuring works by residents intended to represent love.

The home has asked Brockenhurst Primary School, Brockenhurst College and other Colten New Forest homes to contribute entries too.
Guests coming to the show on Valentine’s Day will also have the chance to enjoy a heart-themed afternoon tea. Donations will go to the Honeypot children charity.

[caption id="attachment_4573" align="alignnone" width="768"] Brook View residents and married couple Audrey and David Vincent enjoy their romantic lunch on Valentine’s Day[/caption]

At Avon Reach, staff are decorating the home with love hearts and inviting residents to tuck into a high tea. A raffle on the day will raise funds for Macmillan Caring Locally.

Two resident couples at Brook View, Trevor and Pam and Audrey and David, will enjoy romantic-themed meals in the dining room.

At Avon Cliff, residents and staff are being encouraged to wear red or pink at a tea dance. There will also be a ‘luxury high tea’ accompanied by the gentle sounds of live harp music.

Valentine’s Day will also be celebrated at our homes further afield. Residents at St Catherines View in Winchester will welcome toddlers from the nearby Topps Day Nursery for chocolate-making fun.

The youngsters will be taking home the treats to give to their mums and dads afterwards as Valentine’s gifts.

At Whitecliffe House in Blandford, staff will deliver roses and sweets to all residents. In the afternoon, residents will come together to listen to favourite love songs and share memories of Valentine’s Day and loved ones.

‘Enchanted forest’ gives our residents an early taste of Christmas magic

Residents from our New Forest care homes took the chance to decorate Christmas trees they contributed to a Lymington church festival
Parties from our New Forest homes – Kingfishers, Belmore Lodge and Linden House – were joined by our residents to add colour and sparkle to their trees at St Thomas Church.

They then returned a couple of days later to admire the full community collection of more than 60 trees going on public display in what the church described as an ‘enchanted forest’.

Colten Care was among the businesses, organisations and charities to partner on the Christmas Tree Festival, creating a hands-on opportunity for its residents to support a community cause.

As well as viewing the display, our residents enjoyed tea and cake and live music performed by Milford West Gallery Quire and the Forestina Concertina Group.
Resident Joy Blackmore said: “It was so lovely to be a part of something so traditional and like old times. I had such a wonderful afternoon.”
Our Chief Operating Officer, Elaine Farrer, said: “Our residents have had a magical time being involved in the festival, preparing their trees in advance and visiting again for the opening.

“They had great fun looking through the collection knowing that hidden amid the sea of tinsel, lights and baubles they would find a tree of their very own.”

Our care homes collect chocolate goodies for children at Christmas

Organisers of a charity that provides gifts of chocolate to less fortunate children at Christmas have thanked residents at five of our homes for their support
The Chocolate Elf praised the efforts of residents, staff and families at Woodpeckers in Brockenhurst, Kingfishers in New Milton and the Lymington homes Belmore Lodge, Linden House and Court Lodge for collecting more than 100 selection boxes and advent calendars.

The voluntary group distributes donations to children across Hampshire through contacts in local councils, children’s homes, charities, youth services, hospices and women’s refuges.
Representative Pete Orme, who visited Woodpeckers to pick up the gifts gathered by Colten Care, said: “Thank you so much to the staff, residents and families. Every single donation is truly going to transform a child’s day and, in some instances, their whole Christmas.”
[caption id="attachment_4541" align="alignnone" width="1024"] SWEET SURPRISE. At Woodpeckers in Brockenhurst with some of the chocolate donations are, from left, Colten Care Customer Advisors Tracy Baker, Tracy McCallum and Deborah Davies, and Chocolate Elf charity representative Pete Orme.[/caption]

Altogether, the five homes gathered 45 selection boxes, 56 advent calendars and other donations of chocolate coins, tubs and bars to help with the charity’s work.
Woodpeckers resident Jean Slater said: “How wonderful it was to help with this. Children will always eat chocolate.”

Colten Care totaliser tops hundreds for Children in Need 

Residents and team members across our homes have done their bit for Children in Need by raising more than £400
The total was totted up from various events held during and since the BBC’s annual fundraising appeal.

At Kingfishers in New Milton, Hampshire, residents had fun at a singalong with visiting pianist Mark Busell who played tunes from the 40s, 50s and 60s.
Resident Terry Darrell said: “Everyone had a great time. We had many people really engaged with it. There was a lot of foot tapping and dancing. It felt like New Year’s Eve.”
As well as the live music, we held a cake sale at reception while staff wore Pudsey-style T-shirts and onesies.

Here at Court Lodge we celebrated Children in Need with an afternoon tea and raffle featuring prizes such as hairdos, freshly baked cakes and chocolates.

The fun at Avon Cliff in Bournemouth included a duvet and pamper morning while at Bourne View in Poole there was bingo and a cheese and wine party.

Our dedicated dementia care homes also took part in activities for the appeal.

At Fernhill in Longham, Dorset, staff and residents held a pyjama day and an afternoon of baking cupcakes to sell.

At St Catherines View in Winchester, residents decorated cupcakes for children at the nearby school and enjoyed a visit by balloon artist Chris Kimber who made some very clever balloon creations in front of their eyes.

The home’s Customer Advisor Vanessa Hall did her bit for Children in Need by walking ten miles to work specially in aid of the appeal.
“We greeted her with a banner we had made the day before,” said Companionship Team Leader Laura Sheldrake. “Welcoming Vanessa, getting involved with the cupcakes and watching the balloon artistry of Chris gave everyone a great opportunity to come together and have fun while supporting such a worthy cause.”

‘Remarkable’ BSO French Horn player leaves our care home residents astounded 

We visited our sister home Kingfishers in New Milton, for a special performance by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s (BSO’s) new Artist in Residence, Felix Klieser.
Residents enjoyed a stunning performance from Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s (BSO’s) new Artist in Residence, the professional musician Felix Klieser, who plays the French Horn with his feet.

Felix was accompanied on the piano by his BSO colleague Kevin Pritchard and the musicians led the audience through a stunning one-hour set which included concertos by Beethoven, Mozart and Strauss.

Felix, who began a two-year tenure as the Artist in Residence at BSO in November 2021, said it was good to play for such an intimate audience.
He also paused to take questions from the audience about his extraordinary life.

Felix explained how he first expressed an interest in playing the French Horn as a four-year-old but was told it was unlikely he would have the lung capacity to start lessons until much later.

Despite this he excelled and at 17, enrolled at the prestigious Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover.

Following the performance resident Bunty Patrick said: “I cannot describe what I have just seen. What a talent! It’s something I’ll never forget.”
Terry Brown agreed: “Felix is remarkable. I enjoyed his playing very much and feel honoured to have seen him.”
Alan Havelock added: “I was extremely lucky to have been a trustee of BSO when I was younger and with my wife saw many of their performances and met many musicians. I have never seen anything quite like I did today. It was astounding. I’d like to thank Colten Care for bringing Felix and his amazing talent to us all.”

Fiona Pritchard, our Music and Arts Partner said: “Most of the people in the audience today from Kingfishers and Court Lodge are classical music fans who, before coming to live at their Colten Care homes were regular concert-goers.”

“Most are no longer able to attend concerts easily, so Colten works hard to bring the music directly to them.”
“Today they enjoyed their own personal recital from some amazing musicians. Everyone agreed it was a treat to behold.”
The BSO’s popular care home concerts returned to homes across the BCP region earlier this year, following the pandemic. The performances marked a decade of ongoing support for the BSO’s music in care homes programme by Tapper Funeral Service and were expanded with thanks to support by Rawlins Davy Solicitors.

Glamour and glitz light up ‘Tea at The Ritz’

The glamour and glitz of the jazz age was in vogue once again as residents from two of our homes came together to celebrate Afternoon Tea Week
Flapper dresses, sequins, forearm gloves and peacock feather headbands were de rigueur as Roaring Twenties’ glamour sparkled anew at our sister home, Belmore Lodge in Lymington.

Our residents took the short trip to Belmore Lodge for a lively, stylish afternoon of music, dance and conversation.

The fun took place in the sunshine of the Belmore Lodge garden with family and friends among the guests.

Jazz singer Wills Bailey-Hobbs performed popular hits and jazz standards from the 1920s decade.

Colten Care chefs prepared homemade quiches and cakes and a photobooth gave residents the opportunity to capture precious memories of their look and outfits on the day.

Belmore Lodge resident Maureen Marks said: “We never need an excuse to dress up, especially when it’s all about the elegance of the 1920s.
“It was a joy to welcome family and friends, including our fellow residents from Court Lodge, and experience ‘The Ritz’ being brought into Belmore.”
Sharon Semple, Companionship Team Leader at Belmore Lodge, said: “Everyone had fun enjoying a glorious garden party full of lovely music and dancing.”

As well as care homes, venues taking part in Afternoon Tea Week across the UK included bakeries, cafés and hotels, all keen to celebrate ‘the great British tradition of afternoon tea’.

We mark International Women’s Day with tribute to centenarian pair

We celebrated International Women’s Day by paying tribute to two residents who have both reached the age of 100 in recent months
We honoured centenarians Ann Melrose and Dorothy Hodson, both veterans of the Women’s Land Army, by presenting flowers and certificates of appreciation to them at a special afternoon party.

The occasion was an opportunity for both Ann and Dorothy to reflect on how their lives were shaped by wartime service in their teens and early 20s.

Founded during World War One to support agricultural production, the Women’s Land Army was revived at the outbreak of the Second World War so that it could again organise women to replace workers called up to the military. Women who served in it were known as land girls.

Ann said: “I was too young to join the regular army, so I joined the Land Army instead. I worked on farms in Kent. Sometimes land girls would live in a cottage near the farm, and sometimes we would live in at the farm.”

[caption id="attachment_4904" align="alignnone" width="854"] Centenarian and former land girl Dorothy Hodson with her certificate of appreciation on International Women’s Day.[/caption]

After the war Ann went on to marry, raise a family and work in the hotel industry.
Recalling her time as a land girl, Dorothy said: “It was hard work, with long hours and little pay, but I enjoyed it.”
As well as being in the Women’s Land Army, Dorothy worked in a wartime factory where Wellington bomber airplanes were made.

She said: “It was my job to rivet the wing tips of the plane and I could only do it by crawling across the wing.”

After the war Dorothy met her husband and raised her family while working.
Andrea Rixon of the Court Lodge Companionship Team said: “I’m sure I speak for everyone at the home when I say it is an honour and a privilege to be caring for Ann and Dorothy.
“They really are very special ladies. We thank them for their service all those years ago in helping to keep the nation fed and secure. Subsequent generations owe them an everlasting debt.”

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